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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>From Today’s (August 3, 2004) Spokesman Review:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>----------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h2><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.5pt'>Congress asked to
raise debt limit <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<h4><b><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.0pt'>Treasury chief
says government may run out of money this fall<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h4>
<p class=byline><b><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:6.0pt'>Associated
Press<br>
August 3, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:State>
–The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>He urged Congress to
raise the debt limit as soon as possible. He did not suggest a specific amount.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>Boosting the debt
limit is more a matter of politics than economics.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>
<p style='border:none;padding:0in'><font size=1 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:8.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='border:none;padding:0in'><font size=1 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:8.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Yep. That should do it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thoughts?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Tom Hansen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Moscow</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Idaho</st1:State></span></font></st1:place><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>“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.”</span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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