Obama would sign a short-term debt increase: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama would sign a short-term increase of the debt ceiling, if Congress passed a "clean" bill without policy conditions, but would prefer a longer extension, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Friday. "Is (a short-term extension) still acceptable as the bare minimum? Sure," Carney said. "If the Congress were to pass a clean debt ceiling of short duration to avoid default, the president would sign that," he said. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Eric Beech)