By Michael Lombardi: As we march towards another debt ceiling limit…
The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob J. Lew,
wrote a letter to Congress this week stating the U.S. government will
hit the debt ceiling by October. He wrote, “…Congress should act as soon
as possible to protect America’s good credit by extending normal
borrowing authority well before any risk of default becomes imminent.”
(Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, August 26, 2013.)
Lew added, “Protecting the full faith and
credit of the United States is the responsibility of Congress because
only Congress can extend the nation’s borrowing authority. Failure to
meet that responsibility would cause irreparable harm to the American
economy.” (Source: Ibid.)
Will Congress raise the debt ceiling again? It certainly will!
Since 1960, Congress has raised the debt
ceiling 78 times—49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under
Democratic presidents. (Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury web
site, last accessed August 27, 2013.)
The debt ceiling, which is set by Congress, puts a restriction on how much the national debt can be increased.
On August 23, 2012, the U.S. national debt
stood at $15.97 trillion. Fast-forward one year to August 23, 2013, and
our national debt hit $16.73 trillion.