Obama On Shutdown: "They Got Exactly What They Wanted"

PRESIDENT OBAMA: So my simple message today is, call a vote. call a vote. put it on the floor and let every individual member of congress make up their own minds, and they can show the american people are you for a shutdown or not. if you're not for a shutdown, you will vote for the bill. if you're for a shutdown, you won't vote for a bill. we don't have to twist anybody's arms but that way, the american people will be clear about who's responsible for the shutdown or alternatively, more hopefully, they will be clear that this is something that doesn't make sense and we should go ahead and make sure we're looking out for the american people. it should be that simple. but

As I said, the problem we've got is that there's one faction of one party in one half of one branch of government that so far has refused to allow that yes or no vote unless they get some massive partisan concessions in exchange for doing what they're supposed to be doing anyway. In exchange for doing what everybody else agrees is necessary. And they won't agree to end the shutdown until they get their way. And you may think I'm exaggerating but just the other day, one tea party Republican called the idea of a shutdown wonderful. Another said that a shutdown is exactly what we wanted. Well, they got exactly what they wanted. Now they're trying to figure out how to get out of it.