Debt ceiling to be raised
Treasury Secretary John Snow notified Congress on Monday that the administration has now taken “all prudent and legal actions,” including tapping certain government retirement funds, to keep from hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.
In a letter to Congress, Snow urged lawmakers to pass a new debt ceiling immediately to avoid the nation’s first-ever default on its obligations.
“I know that you share the president’s and my commitment to maintaining the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,” Snow said in his letter to leaders in the House and Senate.
Treasury officials, briefing congressional aides last week, said that the government will run out of maneuvering room to keep from exceeding the current limit sometime during the week of March 20.
Or, you know, cut spending. Party of smaller government, my ass.
March 6th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
You know, I trully believe that there’s not ANY politician now or in the future who can make a promise of any kind and garantee because two many other people are involved in thier final decision making.
March 6th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Thank God the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan include a lot of outsourcing. One of those traditional wars where soldiers peel their own potatoes would have surely bankrupted us long before March 20.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
8.2 trillion? In debt alone? Lets see, 8,200,000,000,000.00 divided by the entire population of the country of, say 300,000,000 comes out to $27,333.00 for every man, woman and child in America, employed, retired, unemployed, bed ridden, etc.. Everyone. For a family of four that’s 109,332.00 in debt, plus whatever all of government (local, state and federal) is costing on a regular basis. The debt alone comes out to a second mortgage for every family of four, assuming that every adult is working and contributing to the coffers. You can probably double that figure to $218,000.00 for every true, working, tax paying family, to be more realistic (government employees don’t count, since they “pay taxes” out of what the tax payers pay them).
I’ve always said that government is my largest expense.