US President Barack Obama has warned that the Republicans' unyielding approach to the US debt crisis is a "dangerous game" and is urging Americans to press for compromise.
Obama delivered the warning in a rare primetime televised speech as Republicans and Democrats remained deadlocked over a deal to raise the US debt ceiling and agree on how to bring ballooning US deficits under control.
The president rejected a Republican proposal to temporarily lift the debt limit, arguing it would leave the underlying problem unresolved and lead to a repeat of the current crisis in six months.
"That is no way to run the greatest country on Earth. It is a dangerous game we've never played before, and we can't afford to play it now. Not when the jobs and livelihoods of so many families are at stake," he said.
But with a potential US default looming in eight days' time, Obama appealed to Americans to "make your voice heard".
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"If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know.
If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message," he said.
The president had scarcely completed his remarks on Monday night (Tuesday morning AEST) when House Speaker John Boehner made an extraordinary rebuttal, which was also carried live on the nation's television networks.
"The president has often said we need a 'balanced' approach, which in Washington means we spend more, you pay more," Boehner said, speaking from a room just off the House floor.
"The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank cheque six months ago, and he wants a blank cheque today.
That is just not going to happen." Boehner, the top Republican in the US House of Representatives, said the United States "cannot default on its debt obligations" and warned, "The American people will not accept an increase in the debt without significant spending cuts and reform".
Directly challenging the president, Boehner said there "is no stalemate in Congress".
He said the crisis would be over if the Senate approved a new House Republican plan to be voted on in the House this week, and if the president signed it.
The back-to-back televised speeches came a few hours after first Republicans, then Democrats drafted rival fallback legislation on Monday to avert a potentially devastating government default in little more than a week.
The speeches did little to suggest that a compromise was in the offing, and the next steps appeared to be votes in the House and Senate on the rival plans by mid-week.
Without signed legislation by August 2, the US Treasury will be unable to pay all its bills, possibly triggering an unprecedented default that officials warn could badly harm a national economy struggling to recover from the worst recession in decades.
Obama wants legislation that will raise the nation's debt limit by at least $US2.4 trillion ($A2.22 trillion) in one vote, enough to avoid a recurrence of the acrimonious current struggle until after the 2012 elections.
Republicans want a two-step process that would require a second vote in the midst of a campaign for control of the White House and both houses of Congress.
