[Vision2020] Congress Asked to Raise Debt Limit

[Tom Hansen]

>From Today's (August 3, 2004) Spokesman Review:

 

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Congress asked to raise debt limit 


Treasury chief says government may run out of money this fall


Associated Press
August 3, 2004

WASHINGTON -The United States could face the prospect of not being able to
pay its bills this fall unless Congress raises government borrowing
authority now capped at $7.4 trillion, Treasury Secretary John Snow said
Monday.

In a letter to House and Senate members, Snow said the government is
expected to reach the current statutory ceiling on the national debt by late
September or early October.

Even if Treasury takes steps to juggle accounts to stay just under the limit
to avoid defaulting on the debt, "we can finance government operations no
longer than mid-to-late November," Snow wrote. The government has performed
such maneuvers in the past.

He urged Congress to raise the debt limit as soon as possible. He did not
suggest a specific amount.

Boosting the debt limit is more a matter of politics than economics.

Economists doubt Congress will reject Snow's call. A federal default is
considered unimaginable because it would rattle bond markets and force
interest rates higher.

 

Wasn't it four years ago that the nation had a $5 trillion surplus?  And now
the powers that be are asking congress to extend the debt limit to well over
$7 trillion.  I may only have a public education, but that sounds like $12
trillion in expenditures to me.

 

Maybe one way to save the economy would be to grant a larger tax break to
those who earn in excess of $200,000 per year and also increase the tax
breaks to those businesses that outsource our jobs overseas.

 

Yep.  That should do it.

 

Thoughts?

 

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

 

"We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some
are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they
all exist very nicely in the same box."

 

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