Did I say violent rhetoric? I meant calm rhetoric.

Via Politico:

President Barack Obama told House Democrats Wednesday that he would negotiate with Republicans but “not with a gun at my head,” according to one lawmaker who attended a caucus-wide meeting at the White House.

As he has before, Obama said he was open to short-term agreements to open the government and raise the debt ceiling if that’s what it took to help Republicans out of what he described as a political box, the lawmaker said.

After the meeting, House Democratic leaders suggested that they would accept short-term deals on both matters.