Obama: U.S. Debt Weakens Economic Growth

President Barack Obama said on Monday that the U.S. debt and deficit are a "concrete impediment" to economic growth and hiring and that the recovery must be strengthened as part of a solution to fiscal problems.

"We need to solve our medium and long-term debt and deficit problems, not for abstract reasons, but because they are a concrete impediment to growth and jobs," Obama said at a meeting of his jobs and competitiveness advisory council in North Carolina.