Obama's day: Business Roundtable

President Obama spends Wednesday trying to recruit new backers in his budget battles with congressional Republicans: Corporate executives.

Obama meets with members of the Business Roundtable as the White House and Congress face the prospects of a government shutdown and another standoff over the debt ceiling.

The White House says Obama will ask the business leaders to talk to congressional Republicans "to grow the economy, create jobs, and not reverse the progress we've made by shutting down the government or threatening to force the United States to default on the bills it has already racked up and owes."

The fiscal year ends Sept. 30; the White House and Congress must agree to a new spending plan or face the prospect of a shutdown.

The government is also expected to hit the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling in mid-to-late October.

Obama also plans to tell the Business Roundtable that a failure to raise the debt ceiling will lead to a government default that "would be disastrous for our economy and for businesses across the country," says the White House.

In 2011, an argument over the debt ceiling and near-default led to a lower stock market and a downgrade in the nation's credit.

Congressional Republicans said Obama can solve the budget and debt ceiling impasses by agreeing to less federal spending.

"No one is threatening to default," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The president only uses these scare tactics to avoid having to show the courage needed to deal with our debt crisis. Every major deficit deal in the last 30 years has been tied to a debt limit increase, and this time should be no different."

Also on Wednesday, President Obama and Vice President Biden meet separately with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Secretary of State John Kerry.