Posted on 07/17/2013 6:26:48 PM PDT by Perseverando
Rep. Michele Bachmann wants to know: How in the world has the federal government not reported any increase in the national debt in 56 days?
As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday, Bachmann asked how there could be no increase reported in the total debt when the government is racking up about $4 billion a day in new debt.
“After nearly 10 years as the head of the Federal Reserve, Chairman Bernanke could not answer my question today in Financial Services Committee,” Bachmann told WND.
She wondered if there’s a political motive involved.
“I asked whether the Treasury Department was cooking the federal government’s books as it was reported that the Feds debt balance sheet remained at $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 days straight, presumably so the Treasury Department wouldn’t officially register that once again the Congress had exceeded its legal borrowing limits.”
A debt of $16,699,396,000,000.00 would put the federal debt just about $25 million below the legal limit, according to a report in CNS.
For it to conveniently stay there for 56 straight days, Bachmann implied, strained credulity.
The lawmaker noted during Wednesday’s hearing that the U.S. government added more than $400 million in debt during Chairman Bernanke’s appearance alone.
“Knowing that, how could he explain the Treasury balance sheet officially stood still for 56 days? Apparently, ignorance is bliss, for bureaucrats,” she concluded.
After saying he had no explanation, Bernanke suggested maybe it was one of the “unusual special measures” used by the Treasury Department “to deal with the debt limit.”
He called it one of the “various things they can do” to “give some extra space” so that some expenditures are “not being counted as debt.”
Bachmann said it, indeed, had been reported as an
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Something funny going on for sure.
We’ve long passed the point where it makes any difference. We’re dealing with Zimbabwe scrip at this point. The only difference is that our government has nukes and an NSA and so a Federal Reserve Note is worth whatever the guys operating obama’s strings say it’s worth.
"I asked whether the Treasury Department was cooking the federal government’s books as it was reported that the Feds debt balance sheet remained at $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 days straight..."
--because it disagrees with what the Treasury Dept. says at their site at treasurydirect.gov:
| Current | Debt Held by the Public | Intragovernmental Holdings | Total Public Debt Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07/12/2013 | 11,925,650,525,848.91 | 4,812,569,560,255.66 | 16,738,220,086,104.57 |
We're getting different stories from different sources here...
If the Fed expects repayment, they should bill the conspirators.
There is some debt that is not subject to the limit. That’s why the treasury number is higher than the limit.
There is some debt that is not subject to the limit. That’s why the treasury number is higher than the limit.
And treasury pulls from other accounts, like the government retiree account.
Thanks for the link. Wish Michele would have gotten up, walked over to Bernanke, and slapped that smug look off his face.
I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ no babies.
Indeed it does.
The site reports the national debt shrinking fast...?
07/01/2013 16,738,309,305,648.26
07/02/2013 16,738,298,556,333.25
07/03/2013 16,738,287,806,544.20
07/05/2013 16,738,281,074,058.77
07/08/2013 16,738,249,094,798.80
07/09/2013 16,738,238,434,108.96
07/10/2013 16,738,227,772,946.05
07/11/2013 16,738,230,684,008.83
07/12/2013 16,738,220,086,104.57
07/15/2013 16,738,188,365,630.03
07/16/2013 16,738,177,765,933.41
That's the funniest line of the day.
Why is some debt “not subject to the limit”? Or in other words, off the books?
Sounds like a “Trust us, we will tell you how much we owe” answer. Non-answer.
BTW, where in TN? I’m from Fayetteville.
How odd... I would expect that if the national debt really were being paid down the administration would announce it with as much fanfare as they could.
That's probably what the Treasury's lawyers would say in court --and my guess is they'd be right. What we got here is a flaky congress trying to blame their problems with bogus complaints of others. The Fed has nothing to do with the federal debt, and congress has everything to do with it.
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