Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Raising the debt limit by a 'little'

There was talk by lawmakers to up the legal limit on the National Treasury Debt by 1.9 trillion dollars. This was going on last week, but now there is a new plan under consideration by lawmakers. This considers raising the limit by just a "coupled hundred billion dollars", which is enough for two months, the house majority leader stated.

The present debt ceiling is at 12.104 trillion dollars, which is an increase from Monday, in which it was 12.071 dollars.

Lawmakers need this change because if it is not changed, the nation will likely default the debt. This default could lead to a devalue of of US bonds and harm its reputation around the world with creditors. Lawmakers do not want this to happen at all costs.

However, the major opponents to this change are fiscal hawks. Lawmakers need these hawks' votes in order for this to pass.

1 comment:

Wiser One (aka Brian Kawamoto) said...

I don't understand why paying off our national debt is not on the top of priority list. All we do is spend money (ie the military). Yes, I agree that being the current world's powerhouse is important, but we shouldn't keep policing other countries. I was saw a bumper stick that said 'Why doesn't the military hold a bake sale'!? Wars generate jobs, jobs generate money, but are we going to go to war every time we are in dept or have an inflation?

Yes, by borrowing money from other countries will get us more stuff now, but in the long run we will lose out. Our credit will go down and other countries will be hesitant to lend us money. Also by borrowing money and not paying off we are actually losing economic power while other countries like China are gaining a surplus of economic power.

I once did an Environmental Science Energy Survey in Shoreview and met an old WWII veteran, who I admit was pretty old and crazy, but what he said left an impact on me. He told me to move to China. We owe them so much money, they are going to become the next power house (Great Britain-> U.S.-> China).

What good will raising the National Treasury Debt do?? I know that we want to maintain our national credit and not devalue our bonds, but by going more into debt, we are actually losing credit. It's an endless cycle we live in and the only way to get out is to, I believe, pay off our debt before raising it.