President Obama delivered a televised speech to the nation Monday night to plead for compromise in his dispute with Republicans over spending cuts in the face of next Tuesday’s deadline to raise the debt ceiling.

His manner direct, the president said that while Democrats and Republicans agree that debt reduction is necessary, “the debate is how it should be done.”

Obama maintained that after weeks of negotiations, “we’re left with a stalemate” that’s “tied to the debt ceiling.”

He warned that the GOP seems adamant about not lifting the debt limit that gives the government the ability to pay existing bills, unless the White House accepts deep spending cuts without raising revenues -- such as by making the rich pay more in taxes.

Should the government default on its bills because of this, Obama said it threatens the issuance of monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits and payment of government contracts.

What’s more, defaulting would mean the nation’s credit rating would plummet while interest rates skyrocketed, interest rates that Obama claimed would be the equivalent of tax hikes for nearly everyone.

Obama was particularly distressed by the Republican plan that would mean addressing the same issue again six months from now, instead of the Democratic proposal that cuts spending by $2.7 trillion over a decade with the next decision about hiking the debt ceiling put off until after the 2012 elections.

The president said that Congress “can’t allow Americans to become collateral damage to Washington’s political warfare” and urged lawmakers to deliver an agreement he can sign.

Saying Americans are “fed up with a town where compromise has become a dirty word,” Obama urged the electorate to let their congressmen and senators know that it’s time to “put country above self.”