Keyword: debtceiling
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit is set to fall to $514 billion this year, down substantially from last year and the lowest level by far since President Barack Obama took office five years ago, a congressional report said Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office credits higher tax revenues from the rebounding economy and sharp curbs on agency spending as the chief reason for the deficit's short-term decline. But the budget experts see the long-term deficit picture worsening by about $100 billion a year through the end of the decade because of slower growth in the economy than they had...
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More Americans would blame Republicans in Congress than President Barack Obama if the nation's debt ceiling is not raised, according to a new national poll. The release of the CNN/ORC International survey on Monday came as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew issued yet another public warning to Congress to act quickly to extend the nation's borrowing authority. Fifty-four percent of those questioned say they would blame the GOP in Congress if the debt ceiling isn't raised, with 29% saying they'd hold the President more responsible. Twelve percent say they'd point fingers at both sides. The numbers are little changed from last...
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration warned on Monday it could start defaulting on the government's obligations "very soon" after hitting a limit on the national debt later this month. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the federal government should hit the ceiling by the end of February unless Washington raises the nation's limit on public borrowing. The federal government would then burn through its remaining cash more quickly that it would at other times of the year because the Treasury will be issuing tax refund checks, Lew said. "Without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be...
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Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says Republicans will not give President Obama the unconditional debt-limit bill he wants: “I think for the president to ask for a clean debt ceiling, when we have a debt the size of our economy, is irresponsible. So we ought to discuss adding something to his request to raise the debt ceiling that does something about the debt—or it produces at least something positive for our country,” McConnell told “Fox News Sunday.” McConnell said President Obama is “unreasonable” to suggest that Congress treat his debt ceiling request “like some kind of motherhood resolution” that...
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Election Day is almost nine months off. But right now Republicans seem almost certain to hold the House of Representatives and are likely to take the Senate. Which raises the inevitable question: How might the GOP seize defeat from the jaws of victory? Two occasions stand out, two obvious obstacles ahead that could lead to disastrous Republican stumbles... ...conservative activists should give up their fond hopes of a debt ceiling bonanza and more or less let the hike go through unscathed (they can still vote against it, of course)....conservatives...should aggressively advance freestanding legislative proposals, to repeal and delay parts of...
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The U.S. is likely to exhaust its borrowing authority on the earlier side of what Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had estimated, he said in a letter to Congressional leaders on Wednesday. Lew warned in the new letter that Congress will likely need to raise the debt ceiling by late February to avoid a potential default on the country's obligations. As part of the bill to reopen the government in mid-October, the debt limit was suspended through Feb. 7. The Treasury can use so-called "extraordinary measures" after that point to keep borrowing and paying the nation's bills for a few weeks...
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Obama Adds Over $500 Billion In New Debt in Just Three Months Under McConnell’s Blank Check Debt Ceiling Deal Half a Trillion in Just Three Months President Barack Obama has blown through more than $500 billion in deficit spending in the three months since passage of the deal proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on easing the debt ceiling battles that gave Obama virtually unlimited borrowing authority from October 17, 2013 through this February 7th. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Congress today imploring the debt ceiling be raised by February 7th, or the end of...
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A great number of Democrats have touted the bipartisan budget agreement reached by Paul Ryan and Patty Murray. Enough Republicans swallowed the idea to pass it through the House and the Senate and it is on the President's desk. Everyone is happy that an agreement has been reached that will lessen the likelihood of another government shutdown early in 2014. Until President Obama made his position on the debt ceiling clear. He says he will not negotiate on raising the debt ceiling, insisting the Republicans allow the increase, while getting nothing in return. The Washington Times - Despite the recent bipartisan...
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House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) signaled that Republicans would not raise the debt ceiling next year without some sort of concessions from Democrats, saying lawmakers were still crafting their strategy. “We, as a caucus, along with our Senate counterparts, are going to meet and discuss what it is we want to get out of the debt limit,” Mr. Ryan said on Fox News Sunday. “We don’t want ‘nothing’ out of the debt limit. We’re going to decide what it is we can accomplish out of this debt limit fight.” The U.S. government spends more money than it...
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House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that the country doesn’t need to worry about another government shutdown in January when the current stopgap spending bill runs out. The government shutdown lasted for 16 days in October, after Republicans demanded that President Obama defund his signature healthcare law. To avoid another shutdown, Ryan said either he and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would strike a budget deal or Congress would pass a stopgap keeping existing spending levels. “Either of those two scenarios will prevail, and we will not have a government shutdown,” he said at the...
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Twelve weeks from today, the US government will hit its borrowing limit. When Congress lifted the debt ceiling last month, for the first time ever, it pegged the increase to a specific date, rather than a dollar amount. The current borrowing authority expires in just 84 days, on February 7th.
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Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and his Republican colleagues won the shutdown drama in October. However, the effects are still gradually rippling through the electorate. And the full results will depend upon Republicans understanding the strategy (they don't) and continuing to implement conservatives' obvious plan consistently for maximum impact (unlikely). Approval has dropped five percent for President Barack Obama since the October government shutdown, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal opinion survey. Obama's disapproval rating has reached a toxic 51 percent -- as even Obama-worshiping NBC News admits. Over 50 percent of voters disapproving is considered fatal for an...
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I didn't realize this, but when the Senate voted a couple of weeks ago to raise the debt ceiling, the legislation included a provision that there would be a second vote expressing approval or disapproval of the first vote. That vote was held yesterday:Twenty-seven Republican senators voted with Democrats on Oct. 16 to lift the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default. And each one of those 27 senators voted Tuesday to "disapprove" of their own votes. The vote Tuesday was a symbolic "resolution to disapprove" of the debt limit hike. It was mandated by the deal thanks to a...
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While concern mounts over the debt ceiling, Democratic senators have introduced legislation that would grant the president more authority over increasing our debt limit, while lessening the amount of time for Congress to disapprove. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) have introduced the Pay Our Bills Act, which would “permanently allow Congress to disapprove debt ceiling increases, instead of approving them.” …
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The House on Wednesday passed a resolution that disapproves of President Obama's decision to suspend the debt ceiling until early February. The House passed the disapproval resolution, H.J.Res. 99, in a 222-191 vote. Three Democrats voted for it, while four Republicans voted against it and two GOP members voted "present." Democrats voting in favor were Reps. John Barrow (Ga.), Jim Matheson (Utah), and Mike McIntyre (N.C.). Republicans voting against were Reps. Charlie Dent (Pa.), Joe Heck (Nev.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), and Peter King (N.Y.). Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) voted "present." The resolution was the result of...
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Obama says he doesn't want to hear about spending cuts By Justin Sink - 10/25/13 04:41 PM ET President Obama told Republicans in Congress that he doesn't want to hear about additional cuts to government programs after the 16-day shutdown. The president said the country can afford to make investments in areas like education, and he noted that the shutdown cut into the economy. “Don't tell me we can afford to shut down the government, which costs our government billions of dollars, but we can't afford to invest in our kids,” Obama said at a school in Brooklyn. “This obsession...
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How 'Debt Ceilings' Increase Debt By Gary Becker and Edward Lazear - October 24, 2013 The recent wrangling in Washington over the debt ceiling, with both sides promising to return to battle early next year, never got around to considering this proposition: Maybe debt ceilings are a bad idea, because they may lead to increased spending. A debt ceiling may seem like a good way to constrain out-of-control government, by focusing attention on the federal deficit and the resulting debt increase. (For the record, the United States debt recently surpassed $17 trillion.) But that focus draws attention from the underlying...
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America is suffering from an epic case of Armageddon fatigue. Budget showdown, government shutdown, debt ceiling debacle—the stakes are real but the establishment seems to feed off the chaos they create as a means to foment fear and outrage and translate it into campaign donations for themselves. Look closely and you’ll see that something seismic is going on under the surface of the manufactured chaos in D.C. Washington has morphed into an extortion racket, a place where members of the permanent political class threaten to inflict legislative and regulatory pain to extract campaign donations that they can then siphon into...
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So now that our government is open and able to pay its bills, what soon-to-be-forgotten lessons have we learned from this sorry fiasco? Perhaps most important is the reminder that political temper tantrums in Washington exact a toll that goes far beyond unfavorable headlines and worse-than-dog-poo poll numbers. This decision hurt people. Some families couldn’t pay their bills. Others had nowhere safe to send their children while they worked. Poor women lost vouchers that helped buy food and formula for their newborns. Cancer treatments were put on hold for patients who didn’t have much time to waste. All told, the...
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The recent bipartisan deal to end the government shutdown and avoid government default, did not raise the debt ceiling but in effect removed any ceiling until February 7 next year. With no new ceiling to bump against the debt went up a record $328 billion just a day after the deal passed. This far surpassed the $238 billion record set two years ago. The huge leap is largely blamed on the government replenishing its supply of extraordinary measures by repaying Federal Funds it borrowed to prevent hitting the debt ceiling earlier. It will now be prepared if there is no...
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