Lew Says Debt-Limit Measures Exhausted No Later Than Oct. 17

[alp227]

Source: Bloomberg News

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew stepped up pressure on Congress to avert a potential default, telling lawmakers in a letter that measures to avoid breaching the debt ceiling will be exhausted on Oct. 17.

“We estimate that, at that point, Treasury would have only approximately $30 billion to meet our country’s commitments,” Lew said in a letter today to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. That projection was revised from last month, when Lew told Congress he expected the Treasury Department would have about $50 billion left to fund the government in mid-October.

Lew’s letter marks the first time he has set a specific deadline and gives lawmakers a target for raising the $16.7 trillion debt limit. Lew and President Barack Obama have said they won’t negotiate on the limit, which is tied to payments and bills the U.S. has already agreed to make. Republicans in Congress want spending cuts to be part of the debt-limit debate.

The $30 billion “would be far short of net expenditures on certain days, which can be as high as $60 billion,” Lew said in the letter. “If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-25/lew-says-extraordinary-measures-exhausted-no-later-than-oct-17.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. "for the first time in our history" - wouldn't be the first time, you'd think the Treasury secretary

would know that.

[Stryst]

2. 14th Amendment?

Specifically the 4th and 5th sections. If " The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned" and "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article", then doesn't that mean that the Congress has a constitutional decree to prevent us from defaulting on any of our debts?