Obama says no more stopgap funding bills

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday that he won’t sign another stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government running and instead called on Congress to join him in forging a longer-term deal.

“I will not sign another shortsighted spending bill like the one Congress sent me this week,” Obama said during an afternoon news conference at the White House.

“This is not the way the United States should be operating,” he said. “Congress has to do its job, it can’t flirt with another shutdown and should pass a serious budget.”

The pledge comes just two days after Obama signed a continuing resolution that will fund the government through Dec. 11, heading off a shutdown.

But Obama called that a “gimmick” that only sets up another potential crisis. The White House wants a more permanent agreement.

Aides to the president say Obama views the perennial uncertainty and the last-minute rush to a deal as bad for the U.S. Congressional leaders also want a longer-term agreement and opened stafflevel talks with the White House this week on a possible two-year spending plan.

But Obama and his fellow Democrats differ from Republicans on budget priorities, with Democrats seeking as much as $74 billion in increased spending on education, infrastructure and other domestic and defense needs, while Republicans want about half as much only for the military.