As Carney told us yesterday, it is entirely appropriate for Obama to use rhetoric like this (even though Obama himself claims he doesn’t use it).

Via NBC News:

President Barack Obama told reporters Friday that he won’t negotiate with Republicans to end the budget standoff “with a gun held to the head of the American people.”

“I’m happy to have negotiations but we can’t do it with a gun held to the head of the American people,” Obama said of congressional Republicans, according to a pool report.

The president made the comments while visiting sandwich shop Taylor Gourmet, just blocks from the White House. He told reporters that he and Vice President Joe Biden decided to visit the lunch spot in part because “we’re starving” and in part because it is offering a 10 percent discount to furloughed federal workers.