A meeting had been held on October 2 with chief executives of major banks and President Barack Obama in attendance, a report by Reuters said. The meeting had given the financial executives opportunity to warn Obama of adverse consequences in US debt should issues surrounding the country's healthcare reform would not be resolved soon. Republicans in Congress and the White House had been in a political deadlock over government spending.
Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein expressed his disapproval with Republicans for using their concerns over Obamacare to push their agenda in the government budget. Blankfein said, "You can litigate these policy issues. You can re-litigate these policy issues in a political forum, but they shouldn't use the threat of causing the U.S. to fail on its ... obligations to repay on its debt as a cudgel."
Should Congress would not raise the USD16.7 trillion borrowing cap, banks had said it would lead US defaulting in its commitments. Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America said, "There's no debate that the seriousness of the U.S. not paying its debts ... is the most serious thing we have, and we witnessed that in August '11 and you saw the ramifications: a slowdown in the economy."
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