Senate raises debt ceiling to $12.4 T

Posted by ConnPolitics.tv Editor on December 24th, 2009

By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer

Washington (AP) – The Senate voted Thursday to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year.

The Senate’s rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and raises the debt ceiling by $290 billion. The bill permits the Treasury Department to issue enough bonds to fund the government’s operations and programs until mid-February. The Senate will vote again on the issue on Jan. 20.

Obama must sign the measure into law to prevent a market-rattling, first-ever default on U.S. obligations. The government piled up a record $1.4 trillion deficit in 2009 to counter a meltdown in financial markets and help bring the nation out of its worst recession in seven decades.

The early-morning vote followed the Senate’s passage of a landmark bill to overhaul the nation’s health care system. They were the Senate’s last votes of the year.

| Posted in News, Washington D.C. - Congress
| 11 feedbacks »
Comment from: Hosed By The System [Visitor] Email
Nice timing......LOL

They will need every stinking penny of it....

Nice job f''ktards..........
12/24/09 @ 08:39
Comment from: Hosed By The System [Visitor] Email
I only wish I could do that same thing as these worthless dysfunctional idiots in Washington......
12/24/09 @ 08:44
Comment from: Hosed By The System [Visitor] Email
"" They were the Senate’s last votes of the year.""

Thank friggin GOD the year is up in a week..........

we cant take anymore "landmark bills" to be passed.......lol
12/24/09 @ 08:50
Comment from: Pat [Visitor] Email
It appears that the best business to get into right now is printing supplies. Crank up the money machines wingnuts. Oh boy, we are so screwed. Is everyone in Washington, DC on crack?
12/24/09 @ 10:48
Comment from: Independant Observer [Visitor] Email
Our kids and future generation are being forced into a debt that they have had no responsibility for.
I fear for the consequences that our great Congress has forced us into. Also we have a President that is lacking character and foresight while being too agenda driven.
12/24/09 @ 15:12
Comment from: David [Visitor] Email
Vote Out All Incumbents!!!
12/24/09 @ 16:36
Comment from: Visitor2 [Visitor] Email
Dump the liberals in 2010, 2012 and Obama in 2012 to save our country !


Time is running out !
12/24/09 @ 20:37
Comment from: succeeded in the system [Visitor] Email
To get insight of what is going on where we are headed read Dick Morris' new book -- "Catastrophe"-- is an education in itself, on politics, on economics and on foreign policy. It is a strong antidote to the pious rhetoric and spin that come out of Washington and the media. Partly this is because Dick Morris was once a Beltway insider-- an adviser to President Bill Clinton-- who knows first-hand the ugly realities behind the pretty words that politicians use and that much of the media repeat.
Morris' argument in "Catastrophe"-- whose title tells us where he sees us headed-- is backed up by numerous hard facts and supported by an understanding of history and economics. Most of all, it is supported by an understanding of politics as it is, rather than the way it is depicted by politicians and the media.
12/24/09 @ 20:43
Comment from: xoxox [Visitor] Email
"Dick Morris' new book -- "Catastrophe"-- is an education"

An extremely narrow minded expose with dubious "facts", tainted insight, and no solutions. I'm no big fan of Obama, and similarly, no fan
of obnoxious propoganda.
12/25/09 @ 09:03
Comment from: Passing Thru [Visitor] Email
So, you're not a fan of Michael Moore's work, correct?
12/25/09 @ 11:30
Comment from: xoxox [Visitor] Email
"So, you're not a fan of Michael Moore's work, correct?"

Oh...here we go again. If I'm not "this", I therefore must be "that". Two dimmensional attributes are for cartoon characters. I am not on either side, if you must know.
12/26/09 @ 12:47

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