[thomaskkk]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,6830666.story

President Obama marked the end of the "long and contentious" debt-limit debate Tuesday afternoon, lamenting that the "manufactured crisis" has stunted the economic recovery and promising a return to a jobs-focused agenda.

...

The months-long debate has sapped all parties in Washington of popular support, including Obama. Last week, his approval rating sank to an all-time low in the Gallup daily tracking poll, at 40%.

At the same time, any sense of an economy in recovery mode seems to have gone out the window because of the uncertainty sparked by the debt-limit debate.

"While Washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking what can we do to help the father looking for work," Obama said. "That's part of the reason that people are so frustrated with what's been going on in this town. ... Our economy didn't need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worse."