Obama asks Congress for a 1.2 trillion dollars increase in US debt limit

Friday, January 13th 2012 - 19:51 UTC

Full article 9 comments

“Further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments” said the US president

US President Barack Obama formally notified Congress that he plans a 1.2 trillion dollars increase in the US debt limit, setting the stage for Republicans to level election-year charges that deficits are out of control.

Obama, in a letter to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said “further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments.”

The move by the Democratic president gives Congress 15 days to vote on a resolution of disapproval under terms of budget control legislation passed last year.

Lawmakers are unlikely to muster the votes needed to block the boost in US borrowing capacity, so a replay of last summer's debt limit drama that brought the federal government to the brink of default and cost it its top-tier credit rating is not expected.

But the increase request does give Republicans an opportunity to criticize Obama over the lack of progress in reducing deficits after congressional deficit reduction talks collapsed late last year.

Obama originally intended to launch the process to raise the debt limit on December 30 but House and Senate leaders asked him to delay the move to allow lawmakers to consider it while they are back in session.

To allow for the delay, the US Treasury Department has had to turn to one of the measures it employed to keep the government afloat last summer: dipping into the Exchange Stabilization Fund, which has a dollar balance of 22.7 billion dollars.

A Treasury official said other measures, such as suspending the daily reinvestments of assets in a government pension fund, may also be needed until the debt-limit increase is secure.

Categories: Economy, Politics, United States.

Tags: Exchange Stabilization Fund, John Boehner, President Barack Obama, United States, US Congress, US debt limit, US Treasury Department.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules

briton
You cant just keep printing money,
But hey, if your going to do it, print some for us whilst your at it .
.
Jan 13th, 2012 - 08:42 pm 0
geo
Dear Barry ...my chocolate mate

for all i heard that you withrawn impartially from Iraq next Afghanistan..by lefting back two bodyguards countries Turkey/Pakistan
to protect Iran...what a cheapest way to buy any guys from the peasent societies..anyway..

you well know that the fragmentation of Iran by Azerbaijan and Iraq by Kurdistan are inevitable...

the Middle East is very terrible place to live not like America/Europe/Africa.....everytime can change everything....

Please don't throw my this sort letter into the garbage box which stays
under your table at the right side since “” Eisenhover “” time...keep this
inside of your collection....

regards Barry regards for now...my chocolat mate.
Jan 13th, 2012 - 09:30 pm 0
briton
That is not a very nice thing to say, about the president of the United States of America,

For a country that plays with the milky bar kid,
May I suggest a different wrapper .
Jan 13th, 2012 - 09:39 pm 0

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