DRAMATIC

Obama: Default 'Reckless and Irresponsible'

Quotes Reagan in a plea for compromise.

President Obama gave a 15-minute primetime speech Monday night to plead with Republicans to come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, calling default a "reckless and irresponsible" option. Obama said he wouldn't "bore" the public with the details of the two plans, but made the case for his plan to be approved—even quoting President Reagan in the process. "The debate right now isn’t whether we should make tough choices…The debate is how it should be done," Obama said. The president called the Republicans' current tactics "no way to run the greatest country on earth" and he said the American people are "fed up with a town where compromise is a dirty word." He credited House Speaker John Boehner for working with him. In a rebuttal shortly after Obama's speech, Boehner rejected Obama's plan.