Here's a comment from Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, on the debt negotiations that President Obama discussed in his address tonight:

President Obama made clear again that he's willing to work with the Republicans to develop a sensible, long-term budget and avert an economic disaster that will reverberate around the world.

Boehner’s response to the president was an astonishing display of revisionist history and partisan politics. The Republicans have offered a reckless, short-term plan that insists on taking away Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits that seniors depend on in order to protect millionaires, billionaires and big corporations from paying their fair share. The GOP’s approach would paralyze Washington by forcing Congress to revisit this issue again and again instead of creating the jobs our countryneeds.

President Obama has always said we need a balanced plan that includes both spending cuts and revenue. It's only fair that everyone should pitch in, including millionaires, billionaires and the big corporations, and it's critical that we protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from budget cuts that would devastate America's seniors and middle-class families.

The Republicans now have to decide if they want to govern or keep saying no to protect the wealthiest people and corporations in America. The GOP's extremist position against a balanced approach won't create a single job or help a single business keep its doors open. The Republicans' fanaticism and brinkmanship is out of control and puts at risk our economy and the financial security of all Americans.