Well, it’s official now: The U.S.
government on Friday breached the current debt ceiling. Congress
probably has until the end of February to raise the cap before the
Treasury begins to default on its borrowing for the first time ever.
The
government’s borrowing cap of $16.69 trillion was suspended last October
as part of a bipartisan budget deal that ended the 16-day government
shutdown and gave Congress until early this year to pass a new budget
and get the government’s fiscal house in order. Today was the deadline
for reinstituting the old debt ceiling unless lawmakers and the White
House could agree on a new, higher borrowing level.
But
with House Speaker John Boehner and his Republican members at odds over
whether to demand concessions from President Obama – such as approving
the Keystone XL pipeline or rescinding recent cuts in benefits for some
military retirees – in return for voting to raise the debt ceiling, the
government has officially exceeded its current borrowing authority by
about $590 billion. As of this morning, the national debt stood at
$17.285 trillion.
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