US President Barack Obama speaks during an unannounced appearance in the Brady Briefing Room on April 5, 2011 at the White House in Washington,DC. Obama upped the ante in a budget row with Republicans, warning it would be ‘inexcusable’ not to agree to a deal and risk closing down the US government this week. Obama warned that the slowly recovering American economy did not need the severe disruption that would result from a federal government shutdown, playing his cards in dramatic fashion as the budget row raced to a climax. (Getty)