Source:
CBS NewsIn the latest iteration of the ongoing budget battle in Washington, a handful of conservative senators are threatening to vote against - if not filibuster a vote for - raising the national debt limit, just weeks before the national Treasury is expected to hit its limit.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio, a prominent Florida Tea Party freshman, came out against authorizing an increase to the limit, arguing that doing so would be "putting off the tough decisions until after the next election."
"We cannot afford to continue waiting. This may be our last chance to force Washington to tackle the central economic issue of our time," wrote Rubio. "I will vote to defeat an increase in the debt limit unless it is the last one we ever authorize and is accompanied by a plan for fundamental tax reform, an overhaul of our regulatory structure, a cut to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid."
Rubio is among a growing number of Republicans who are vowing to vote against raising the debt ceiling unless conservatives are granted a strict series of concessions - including, in many cases, a constitutional amendment requiring the government to balance the budget.
Read more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20048748-503544.html
By the way, although it's been little reported, we actually passed the debt ceiling
today:
Treasury Sells $29 Billion In Bonds, Bringing Total Settled US Debt To 14.311 Trillion, More Than The Debt CeilingNow bear with us for a second: the most recently disclosed total debt was 14,211,567,662,931.23 as of March 28. This excludes the settlement of all of this week's auctions which amount to $35 + $35 + $29 billion (including today) or $99 billion. Adding the two amounts to $14,310,567,662,931.23. As a reminder the debt ceiling is $14,294,000,000,000.00. In other words, the total US debt just passed the debt limit - break out the Champagne! Granted there is a buffer of $52.2 billion between the total debt and the debt actually subject to the ceiling, meaning that America is not in default, yet. Therefore, the total debt subject to the limit assuming full settlement right now is $14,258,341,662,931. Which means the US is now $35.7 billion away from a bona fide breach of the debt ceiling. Yes, there are some caveats, and it is possible that there will be an accelerated redemption of bills over the next few days, pushing the total debt slightly lower, but readers get the idea. Complicating things, the SFP unwind is complete with just $5 billion in 56 Day Cash Management Bills on the books, and no longer a buffer of debt ceiling extension.
Which brings up the question: with a government shut down looming any minute, shouldn't Congress be tackling the issue of what happens when the US enter technical default some time in the second week of April when the next battery of approximately $67 billion in new bonds are issued, which also happens to be just as tax rebate (and thus outflow) season peaks?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/treasury-sells-29-billion-bonds-bringing-total-settled-us-debt-14311-trillion-more-debt-ceil