Debt Limit to Be Increased By Up to $1.9 Trillion

[The Northerner]

Source: Bloomberg

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber will vote next week on increasing the U.S. debt limit by $1.8 trillion or $1.9 trillion.

Hoyer said the increase will be added to a Defense Department spending measure. Also to be added will be infrastructure spending, a six-month extension of unemployment benefits, and subsidies to help jobless people buy health insurance through their former employer, said Hoyer of Maryland.

Hoyer didn’t say how much those items would cost. He said lawmakers haven’t decided whether to attach legislation extending the estate tax beyond its Dec. 31 expiration. The defense measure may be the last major bill approved this year by the House.

The debt limit increase, raising the legal cap on government borrowing to about $14 trillion, would be the fourth in 18 months. A $1.8 trillion boost would probably be enough to prevent lawmakers from having to raise the limit again before next year’s midterm elections.

Such an increase would be more than twice the size of each of the past three debt limit increases, each of which lifted the cap by $800 billion or less.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQCMorMxJnoA

[valerief]

1. Oh, I can hear those teabaggers now, screaming over the cost of war.

What's that? (chirp) Where are they? (chirp) No complaints about the cost of war just the cost of real benefits like healthcare?

They are a strange pack.

[WriteDown]

2. Wasn't it 1.8T yesterday?

:shrug:

[MercutioATC]

3. Inflation.

See how quickly it adds up when you're 14 TRILLION dollars in debt?

[bobshin]

4. Eh, what's another trillion or two? Debt is good.

They'll just print more money. Why bother with a limit at all if they can raise it at will?

[Javaman]

5. fuck it just make it 40 trillion!

death by a 1000 cuts.

if they did raise to 40 trillion the world would freak the fuck out.

but doing it in small bite size pieces, the world only gets miffed.