US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

[WildspitzE]

Got Gold? :eek:

US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...eKNR38gWLcjXdw

"WASHINGTON — The US debt is on track to hit a congressionally proposed debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by the end of February, the Treasury said Wednesday, a day ahead of a key vote to raise it to that level.

"Based on current projections, Treasury expects to reach the debt ceiling as early as the end of February. However, the government's cash flows are volatile, making it difficult to forecast a precise date," the Treasury said in a statement.

The current limit on the public debt of the United States is 12.374 trillion dollars.

The US debt exceeded 12.349 trillion dollars on Monday, according to Treasury data.

The US House of Representatives will vote Thursday on whether to raise the US debt limit to a historic 14.3 trillion dollars, allowing the United States to borrow another 1.9 trillion dollars.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said representatives would take up the measure a week after the Senate approved the higher debt ceiling in a 60-39 vote.

In December, both houses agreed to increase the debt limit by an interim amount of 290 billion dollars to ensure the US government would continue to function.

The Senate also last week passed an amendment to legislation raising the debt ceiling that requires new budget items to be paid for, dubbed "pay-as-you-go."

The measure is intended to prevent the federal government from spending money it does not have and to control the massive US budget deficit.
The House has adopted a similar measure."

Pay as you go? Discretionary Spending lay away plan?

[GRG55]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Got Gold? :eek:

US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...eKNR38gWLcjXdw

"WASHINGTON — The US debt is on track to hit a congressionally proposed debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by the end of February, the Treasury said Wednesday, a day ahead of a key vote to raise it to that level.

"Based on current projections, Treasury expects to reach the debt ceiling as early as the end of February. However, the government's cash flows are volatile, making it difficult to forecast a precise date," the Treasury said in a statement.

The current limit on the public debt of the United States is 12.374 trillion dollars.

The US debt exceeded 12.349 trillion dollars on Monday, according to Treasury data.

The US House of Representatives will vote Thursday on whether to raise the US debt limit to a historic 14.3 trillion dollars, allowing the United States to borrow another 1.9 trillion dollars.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said representatives would take up the measure a week after the Senate approved the higher debt ceiling in a 60-39 vote.

In December, both houses agreed to increase the debt limit by an interim amount of 290 billion dollars to ensure the US government would continue to function.

The Senate also last week passed an amendment to legislation raising the debt ceiling that requires new budget items to be paid for, dubbed "pay-as-you-go."

The measure is intended to prevent the federal government from spending money it does not have and to control the massive US budget deficit.
The House has adopted a similar measure."

Pay as you go? Discretionary Spending lay away plan?

Let's see if I got this right...

One:

"...The US debt exceeded 12.349 trillion dollars on Monday, according to Treasury data..."

Two:

"...The US House of Representatives will vote Thursday on whether to raise the US debt limit to a historic 14.3 trillion dollars, allowing the United States to borrow another 1.9 trillion dollars..."

Three:

"...The US debt is on track to hit a congressionally proposed debt ceiling of 14.3 trillion dollars by the end of February, the Treasury said Wednesday..."

So in the space of 4 weeks the United States is going to go further in hock to the tune of $1.9 T?

I think I can hear Gomer Pyle uttering "Surprise, surprise, surprise..."

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

So in the space of 4 weeks the United States is going to go further in hock to the tune of $1.9 T?

I think I can hear Gomer Pyle uttering "Surprise, surprise, surprise..."

Ouch. Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of spending overcomes the fear of debt.

[GRG55]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Ouch. Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of spending overcomes the fear of debt.

What do you bet the 2010 fiscal deficit blows past the $1.6 T in the budget...and the only way to get it back in line is more off-balance sheet voodoo? [Gomer would exclaim "Shazam!"]

[big67]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Faster, pussycat! Kill! kill!

What about the pay as you go? Is this aimed to moderate the deficit explosion?

[Mega]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Perhaps "she" should run the FED:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdac3...eature=related
Mike

[WildspitzE]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Let's see if I got this right...

is going to go further in hock to the tune of $1.9 T?

I think I can hear Gomer Pyle uttering "Surprise, surprise, surprise..."

Affirmative. That said, given that it's aTreasury estimate, we probably should factor in a +/- 500B. (weighted towards the + side)

You hear that? That's the sound of some big ol' chickens in the distance, coming home to roost.

This is gonna hurt

[jpatter666]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Yeah.

Just ran across the following quote:

In the words of David Bowers of Absolute Strategy Research:

"It’s the last game of pass the parcel. When the tech bubble burst, balance sheet problems were passed to the household sector [through mortgages]. This time they are being passed to the public sector [through governments’ assumption of banks’ debts]. There’s nobody left to pass it to in the future."

Gone JTABEB yet?

[WildspitzE]

Re: US debt to hit proposed ceiling by end-February: Treasury

Not that they have the guts to do this... but still interesting:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a82cfe04-1...44feab49a.html

Moody’s warns US of credit rating fears
"
Moody’s Investors Service fired off a warning on Wednesday that the triple A sovereign credit rating of the US would come under pressure unless economic growth was more robust than expected or tougher actions were taken to tackle the country’s budget deficit.
In a move that follows intensifying concern among investors over the US deficit, Moody’s said the country faced a trajectory of debt growth that was “clearly continuously upward”.

Steven Hess, senior credit officer at Moody’s, said the deficits projected in the budget outlook presented by the Obama administration outlook this week did not stabilise debt levels in relation to gross domestic product.

"Unless further measures are taken to reduce the budget deficit further or the economy rebounds more vigorously than expected, the federal financial picture as presented in the projections for the next decade will at some point put pressure on the triple A government bond rating,” the rating agency added in an issuer note.

..."