In an interview with CNBC, Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha and one of the world's wealthiest men, took sharp shots at politicians in Washington negotiating over raising the debt ceiling. Buffett said if the debt ceiling isn't raised, the U.S. would default on its debt and that is unprecedented and we simply don't know how that would turn out. That's why he compared the situation to a game of russian roulette. He said five times out of six everything would be fine but that one bullet could do a ton of damage. Playing, he said, is "silly."
"We raised the debt ceiling seven times during the Bush administration" he said. "Now in this administration they are using it as a hostage. You don't have any business by playing russian roulette to get your way in some other matter. We should be more grown up than that."
Buffett said Congress is playing with "fire when you shouldn't be playing with fire." He said corporate America should be telling Congress, "shame on all of you." And said that Republicans and Democrats are both to blame. There is "enough blame to go around."
Here's CNBC's video of the full interview:
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