IOU: $$14,001,000,000,000.00 Signed, USA

Congratulations America!! We just reached the $14 Trillion mark!! That's right, we are now officially $14,001,000,000,000 dollars in debt.

Our legal debt ceiling is $14,294,000,000,000. This means that we are only $300 billion dollars away from reaching this legal limit.

And what does Treasury Secretary Geithner recommend? That we raise the cap of course!!

Geithner says that reaching our limit would ruin not only our economy, but the economies of various other countries too.

If we do actually reach the limit, what would actually happen? We would all receive IOUs!!

We need to fix our deficit problem before it gets even more out of control. Our deficit has no reason to be so high (or to continuously expand). The question is, how do we do it??

For now, I think we need to raise our limit for a very limited amount of time. Then, we need to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit quickly, even if that means that our economy might hurt for a bit longer.

What do you think?? Do we need to extend the gap before it's too late?

Deficit Commission?

Obama is supporting a Senate proposal which would create an eighteen member bipartisan deficit commission who's task it is to propose a plan to gradually reduce our national debt. This commission is opposed by many Republican's, but Obama is prepared to issue an executive order creating a similar commission if necessary. I feel that this commission is necessary to start the initiative to lower our national debt. I believe the Republicans will find it more convenient to pass the Senate bill rather than forcing the President to issue an executive order. I believe with the right bipartisan commission, our government can effectively formulate ideas on how to lower our national debt over the next few years. The vote on this commission is scheduled for Tuesday, so if it does not pass, Obama might introduce his new commission in his State of the Union address on Monday.