Obama will ask to hike the debt limit again by $1.2 Trillion this week

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official

Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET: The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior U.S. Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

The approval is expected to go through without a challenge, given that Congress is in recess until later in January and the request is in line with an agreement to keep the U.S. government funded into 2013.

The debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current cap by Dec. 30, when the United States has $82 billion in interest on its debt and payments such as Social Security coming due. President Barack Obama is expected to ask for authority to increase the borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion, part of the spending authority that was negotiated between Congress and the White House this summer.

Under the agreement struck in August during the showdown over the government's debt limit, the cap is automatically raised unless Congress votes to block the debt-ceiling extension. Lawmakers have 15 days within receiving the request to vote, which is largely symbolic because the president can veto it and Congress would be unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority to override it. Moreover, the U.S. House of Representatives also is in recess until Jan. 17.

The deal called for raising the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion to serve the nation's borrowing needs into 2013 and also included mandatory cuts to the federal budget deficit. Since then, the extension has been increased twice by a total of $900 billion.

The debt limit currently stands at $15.194 trillion and would increase to $16.394 trillion with the request.

http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/27/9741610-obama-to-ask-for-debt-limit-hike-treasury-official

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Who would have guessed this would happen?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It's a good thing Congress didn't pass, and the President didn't sign any tax cuts yet.

[Pooky 3,794]

Still being sold down the river by Washington

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Still being sold down the river by Washington

Obama needs another crisis to continue his non-campaign for reelection. The more the Republicans try to do the right thing, the better Obama looks.

[Pooky 3,794]

Obama needs another crisis to continue his non-campaign for reelection.

Perhaps he needs a Krugman-esque fake alien invasion

The more the Republicans try to do the right thing, the better Obama looks.

There was a time when politics was all about doing the right thing. Then man invented fire.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Obama needs another crisis to continue his non-campaign for reelection. The more the Republicans try to do the right thing, the better Obama looks.

:rofl: The right things for who? Not the people, that's for damn sure. None of them do, Democrats or Republicans. To think that one party has all the answers is delusional.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Who would have guessed this would happen?

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies."

Senator Barack Obama

Senate Floor Speech on Public Debt

March 16, 2006

[MyLittlePony 340]

Obama has my vote for next election he doing a good job he got our troops home same and all the tree hippie huggers happy.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

:rofl: The right things for who? Not the people, that's for damn sure. None of them do, Democrats or Republicans. To think that one party has all the answers is delusional.

And any of the remaining Republicans will continue to do the same if they are elected, only they will try to control what you do in your bedroom instead of what car is in your garage while they look the other way.

Obama has my vote for next election he doing a good job he got our troops home same and all the tree hippie huggers happy.

[luckytxn 2,264]

The continuing destruction of America. Way to go Obama the Socialist.

[slim 1,525]

He's an idiot.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Obama needs another crisis to continue his non-campaign for reelection. The more the Republicans try to do the right thing, the better Obama looks.

Well, if that's the motivation, then the Republicans have done all they can to give Obama precisely what he needs. Remember that this event was purposely set-up by Republicans earlier this year. They wanted Obama to go on record again and again requesting an increase in the debt ceiling. They could have disposed of this issue in the spring but the Republicans chose not to. This is precisely what they asked for, and so this is precisely what they get. This is Republicans doing "the right thing". Only the administration has managed to change the politics around the issue. They managed to make the Republicans earlier move work in their favor now. Maybe they even set them up. What the Republicans don't understand is this: This sh!t's chess, not checkers.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Mr. Big Dog

[spookyturtle 9,466]

The Republican's don't have the peoples interests at heart either. They only care to protect their own interests. It's not government for the people. It's government for the government.

[slim 1,525]

Buy ammo.