Posted on 10/22/2009 6:02:32 AM PDT by markomalley
The Senate must soon increase the national debt limit to above $13 trillion — and Democrats are looking for political cover.
Knowing they will face unyielding GOP attacks for voting to increase the eye-popping debt, Democrats are considering attaching a debt increase provision to a must-pass bill, possibly the Defense Department spending bill, according to Democratic and Republican sources.
Adding it to the defense bill would allow Democrats to argue that they voted for the measure to help troops in harm’s way — and downplay that their vote also expanded the limit for how much money the country can borrow.
The strategy has not yet been finalized, aides and senators said. The House already approved a debt limit increase of $925 billion — above the $12.1 trillion ceiling Congress approved as part of the economic stimulus package last February — but Democrats may seek to increase the limit further so they don’t have to revisit the politically treacherous issue until after the 2010 midterm elections.
As of Tuesday, the debt stood at $11.95 trillion, staring at senators amid a roiling health care debate in which critics have seized on the potential costs of the overhaul. Unlike those of the House, the Senate’s rules do not allow it to automatically increase the debt with its adoption of the annual budget resolution. That puts senators in a tough position politically. And if the Senate balks at the increase, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned that the slow economic recovery could collapse, as investors around the world would sharply lose confidence in America’s abilities to meet its credit obligations.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
They know the dimwitted GOPers will play along
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/govt.htm
Looks like the debt is approaching almost an extra trillion since JUNE!
Congress just raised the ceiling to 12.1 trillion a couple months ago.
The debt was 10.6 trillion the day obama was installed, as of yesterday it was 11.9 trillion.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
They better raise it to 13 trillion quick, before Michelle goes shoe shopping!
I shudder to think of what things are going to look like 12 months from now.
This is why Obama is stalling. He’s hoping that he can shove this, Cap-N-Tax and Health care through, and then use Afghanistan as a popularity surge thing, not sure how well that’s going to work out.
Why is it a MUST PASS Bill?? what if it doesn’t?? let it FAIL, watch the Dems as everything falls apart.
“They know the dimwitted GOPers will play along”
Then again maybe the GOP won’t.
All depends on what side of the bed they got up on
are...
so...
screwed...
"Why squander your presidency on trying to turn an economically moribund feudal backwater (Afghanistan) into a functioning nation state when you can turn a functioning nation state (United States) into an economically moribund feudal backwater? - Mark Steyn
Leni
Why don`t they just cut the bull and say there will no longer be a debt limit?
Yet another example of why all bills in Congress and in every state legislature need to be:
ONE ITEM BILLS ONLY. No coat tails. No hiding anything.
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