Debt Ceiling

Here’s What Happens If Congress Fails to Raise the Debt Ceiling

By Michael Rainey

What happens if Congress fails to raise the debt limit? A new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center examines that question in detail, and the results aren’t pretty. Here are some highlights — or...
Why Raising the Debt Ceiling Won’t Be a Problem This Year

By Rob Garver

The final wall of resistance to a “clean” increase of the federal debt ceiling, necessary to avoid a potentially catastrophic government default later this year, appears to have fallen, with White...
Top GOP Conservative: We Won’t Play Around With the Debt Ceiling

By Rob Garver

When it comes to the perennial fight to raise the federal debt ceiling, it’s usually best to assume that the struggle to give the Treasury Department clearance to actually pay the debts that the...
Raise the Debt Ceiling Now, or Face Another Post-Summer Crisis: Meadows

By Eric Pianin

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, one of the most influential conservatives in the House, said Monday he favors quick action this summer to raise the debt ceiling, taking a stand on an issue that is...
Here’s a Solution for the Annual Debt Ceiling Crisis: Get Rid of It

By Eric Pianin

With another debt ceiling crisis looming that threatens a first-ever default by the Treasury and another government shutdown, there is a growing school of thought in the Senate that lawmakers should...

The National Debt Is a Bigger Problem Than You Think

By Lawrence Goodman

The U.S. debt situation is worse than commonly realized. Unaddressed, the surge in Treasury borrowing over the last 10 years represents an accident in the offing.
Mulvaney’s Debt Ceiling Ploy Protects Treasurys, Not Social Security Checks

By Rob Garver

The Trump administration appears to be considering a plan to pay some government debts but not others if the debt ceiling isn’t raised on time. It’s a plan economists and financial markets experts...
White House’s Debt Ceiling Battle Could Trigger a Shutdown — and a Recession

By Eric Pianin

At a time when worldwide confidence in the U.S. has already been badly shaken by President Trump’s go-it-alone, “America First” approach to trade, NATO and climate change, a White House riven by...
New Debt Ceiling Deadline Could Ruin Lawmakers' Summer Vacations

By Rob Garver

The federal debt limit, previously thought to be an issue that could be postponed to the fall, may need to be raised prior to the August recess, complicating the lives of top Republicans in Congress.
The Great Risk Shift Is Back

By Mark Thoma

The vote in the House of Representatives to dismantle Obamacare was not the only attempt to undo key legislation from the Obama years that occurred last Thursday.

Here's the GOP's 2017 New Year’s Resolution: Avoid Self-Inflicted Wounds

By Rob Garver and Eric Pianin

Republicans in Washington began their era of total control over the levers of power by stepping on a rake. In a secret vote last week, the Republican conference in the House of Representatives...
Why the Debt Limit Is the Next Threat to the US Economy

By Rob Garver

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has probably seen his last debt limit fight as the man in charge of meeting the country’s financial obligations, but on his way out the door, he is calling on Congress to...
Increasing the $19 Trillion Debt Is Built into Clinton and Trump’s Tax Plans

By Rob Garver

Of all the people frustrated that the presidential election of 2016 has been mired in details about Hillary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s various offenses against common decency, few are more...
Why It’s Time to Worry Again About America’s Rising Federal Debt

By Charles Blahous

One of the fascinating quirks of humanity, studied by scientists ranging from behavioral economists to psychologists , is how our perceptions of events are shaped as much by our expectations as by...
Can You Fix Our Fiscal Mess?

By Eric Pianin

By the end of the current fiscal year, the federal budget deficit will rise to $534 billion – about $100 billion more than last year’s shortfall. Then, as a new Democratic or Republican president...

Search form