A magical credit card...

Congress Sets New Federal Debt Limit: $9 Trillion
by David Welna
From NPR.org

Morning Edition, March 16, 2006 · Faced with a potential government shutdown, the Senate votes to raise the nation's debt limit for the fourth time in five years. The bill passed by a 52-48 vote, increasing the ceiling to $9 trillion. The bill now goes to the president.

The debt now stands at more than $8.2 trillion.

Like many cash-strapped Americans who have maxed-out credit cards, the federal government has hit its limit for borrowing funds to keep operating. If the limit isn't raised, the government likely will run out of borrowing authority within days, risking a shutdown.

When President Bush took office five years ago, the national debt was at $5.6 trillion; since then, big budget surpluses have collapsed into huge deficits, and the debt has shot up nearly 50 percent.

Few lawmakers, though, wish to be on record as authorizing more debt -- the House goes so far as to hike the limit automatically. And Senate Democrats are telling their Republican counterparts not to expect any help from them, particularly in an election year.

If any amendments are attached to the Senate's debt measure, the House would be forced to vote on raising the limit -- the last thing many lawmakers seeking re-election want to be on the record as doing.

Treasury Secretary John Snow wrote congressional leaders last week, imploring them to immediately raise the $8.2 trillion debt limit. The House has put the new limit at $9 trillion.

I heard about this story last week, but only decided to rant about it today. Is this a clusterfuck situation or what? Of all institutions in the world, does even the US government have the ability to pay off a debt of $9 trillion? Estimates are that this will skyrocket even more once retiring baby boomers start drawing in large numbers from the federal social programs. Yikes. I have heard two analogies to this: the first was akin owning a magical credit card, with no limit and a continually increasing ceiling. Charge now, pay never. The other anaology was to getting an 'F' in a college course. Having the power to change policy, you simply stretch the curve so that a 'K' is the failing grade, and suddenly, your 'F' looks like a 'C'! See, easy!