Obama: ‘We are almost out of time’ on debt crisis

President Obama reiterated his call for a bipartisan solution to the nation's debt crisis, warning lawmakers Friday that they need to find "common ground" if the country is to avoid heading into financial default.

"The time for putting party first is over," Obama said in brief remarks in the White House Diplomatic Room. "The time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now."

He warned that the nation is "almost out of time" and said the ongoing debate risks the nation's "AAA credit rating ... because we didn't have a AAA political system to match."

The president's remarks came as House Speaker John Boehner prepared to bring up his version of a debt plan for a vote Friday after failing to secure adequate GOP support for the plan Thursday. Yet Obama warned that in spite of "all the intrigue and the drama" Boehner's legislation won't make it past the Senate.

"It's a plan that would force us to relive this crisis in just a few short months," Obama said. "It does not solve the problem and has no chance of becoming law."

Any solution, Obama insisted, "will have to have the support of both the House and Senate." He urged lawmakers to find "common ground" as soon as possible--warning if that a compromise is not reached by next Tuesday, the date by which Treasury officials say the United States will begin to default on its debts, that it could send the nation into further economic crisis.

"This is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart," the president insisted.

He noted that both sides agree roughly on spending cuts and that both sides are willing to embrace reform of the nation's tax system and entitlement programs as the next step.

"There are a lot of crises in the world that we can't always predict or avoid: hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks," Obama said. "This isn't one of those crises."