U.S. Debt Tops $14.2T; Treasury Down to $45.5B Cash

waltky

Wise ol' monkey
Feb 6, 2011
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Granny says its all dem politicians fault...
:eek:
U.S. Debt Tops $14.2T; Treasury Down to $45.5B Cash
Thursday, April 07, 2011 - The legally limited portion of the national debt increased $18.22 billion on Tuesday, climbing from $14.1917 trillion ($14,191,736,000,000.00) to $14.2099 trillion ($14,209,963,000,000.00) by the close of business that day, according to the latest daily statement issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Under current law, the Treasury may not borrow more than $14.2940 trillion (14,294,000,000,000.00). Thus, as of Tuesday, the government had only $84 billion in borrowing authority left. Also as of the close of business on Tuesday, the Treasury had only $45.5 billion in cash on hand. Back on March 1, the Treasury issued a press release stating that it estimated "the United States will reach the debt limit between April 15, 2011 and May 31, 2011." Since then, the Treasury has not updated its estimate. April 15 is next Friday.

(Ordinarily, April 15 is also the deadline for Americans to file their federal tax returns. However, the IRS moved the deadline this year because the local government of the District of Columbia will be shutdown on April 15 for a holiday. “Taxpayers will have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Friday, April 15,” said the IRS. Technically, Emancipation Day is April 16, but that is a Saturday this year, so the District of Columbia will celebrate it by closing on Friday instead.)

Almost all of the federal government’s debt—99.5 percent of it, according to the Congressional Research Service--is subject to a limit legally set in a statute passed by Congress and signed by the President. Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, he and Congress have acted to increase the legal debt limit three times.

On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus law enacted by a Democratic-majority Congress that included a provision lifting the debt limit from $11.315 trillion to $12.104 trillion. On Dec. 28, 2009, Obama signed another law enacted by the Democratic Congress that lifted the debt limit to $12.394 trillion. Less than two months after that, on Feb. 12, 2010, President Obama signed yet another law enacted by the Democratic Congress that lifted the legal debt limit to the current $14.294 trillion.

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Social Security Stopping Mailed Earning Statements
Thursday, April 07, 2011 Washington (AP) - Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out - here's what you'd get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 - will soon stop arriving in workers' mailboxes. It's an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency's website.
The government is working to provide the statements online by the end of the year, if it can resolve security issues, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said. If that fails, the agency will resume the paper statements, which cost $70 million a year to mail, he said. "We'll provide it, we expect, one way or another, before the end of the calendar year," Astrue told The Associated Press. "We're just right now trying to figure out the most cost-effective and convenient way to provide that to the American public." The statements, mailed to 150 million people each year, project future benefit payments, helping workers plan for retirement.

The decision to suspend the mailings was unrelated to the talk of a possible partial government shutdown. It was, however, related to the agency's operating budget, which has essentially been frozen at 2010 levels - minus about $350 million in economic stimulus money the agency had been using to handle claims. Advocates for older Americans say they are sympathetic about the agency's budget problems, but several said an online option is insufficient, especially for people who may not have computer skills or access to computers. "As far as the information being available online, that's not going to help a lot of people we work with," said Max Richtman, executive vice president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

"This was a concrete piece of paper, a document that workers would receive that would give them confidence in the program," Richtman said. "Otherwise, they hear a lot of the debate in Washington. It's going to be there; it's not going to be there." Claims for retirement and disability benefits are up significantly since the nation's economy soured in 2008. About 2.7 million people applied for retirement benefits last year, a 17 percent increase from 2008, according to agency statistics. About 3.2 million people applied for disability benefits last year, a 23 percent increase.

Since the 1980s, Social Security statements have been mailed each year to workers older than 25. They include a history of taxable earnings for each year - so people can check for mistakes - as well as the total amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes paid over the lifetime of the worker. The statements provide estimates of monthly benefits, based on current earnings and when a worker plans to retire. Workers can claim early retirement benefits starting at age 62. Full benefits are available at age 66, a threshold that is gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later. The statements are mailed throughout the year, so many people have already received them this year. Tens of millions have not.

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No wonder we ain't gettin' anywhere in reducing the debt...
:eusa_eh:
Debt Jumped $54.1 Billion in 8 Days Preceding Obama-Boehner Deal to Cut $38.5 Billion for Rest of Year
Saturday, April 09, 2011
The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.

The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010, the national debt has increase by $653.4 billion.

Debt Jumped $54.1 Billion in 8 Days Preceding Obama-Boehner Deal to Cut $38.5 Billion for Rest of Year | CNSnews.com

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$38.5B Cuts in Boehner-Obama Deal Less Than 6 Percent of $653.4B In Debt Incurred Already This Fiscal Year
Saturday, April 09, 2011 - House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and President Barack Obama agreed to deal late Friday evening to keep the government funded through the rest of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.
Congress agreed to immediately pass a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded into next week and then pass another bill next week that would fund the government until Sept. 30.

The deal includes $38.5 billion in spending cuts. That equals just under 6 percent of the $653.4 billion in increased debt the government has already incurred this fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1, 2010.

On Oct. 1, 2010, the debt was $13.6108 trillion ($13,610,847,585,810.09). As of yesterday, it was $14.2646 trillion ($14,264,245,526,311.58), an increase of $653.4 billion ($653,397,940,501.49).

When Boehner became speaker of a Republican-majority House on Jan. 5, 2011, the debt was at $14.0115 trillion ($14,011,526,727,895.85). Since that day it has increased $252.7 billion. The $38.5 billion in cuts in the Boehner-Obama deal equals about 15 percent of the new debt that has already piled up in the three months since the Republicans took control of the House.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/385b-cuts-boehner-obama-deal-less-6-perc

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Feds Spent $142B on Thursday Alone—As Pols Dickered Over Cutting $33B or $40B for Rest of Year
Friday, April 08, 2011 - The federal government spent $142.3 billion on Thursday alone, according to the Daily Treasury Statement released at 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon.
This $142.3 billion in spending took place on a day when the White House and congressional leaders were deadlocked over whether to cut between $33 billion and $40 billion in federal spending for the rest of the year. To fund the $142.3 billion it spent on Thursday, the U.S. Treasury borrowed $132.8 billion during the day by selling new debt instruments—and almost all of these ($129.9 billion) were short-term Treasury bills that mature in one year or less.

By far, the federal government’s top expense on Thursday was paying off old debts that came due and that the government had a legal obligation to meet. During the day, Treasury reports, it paid off $130.75 billion in Treasury securities that had matured. The other biggest expenses for the government on Thursday included $1.7 billion in Medicaid benefits, $1.133 billion in payments to defense contractors, $1.101 billion in Medicare benefits, and $853 million in salaries for federal workers. After the $132.8 billion in new Treasury securities the government sold on Thursday, the second largest source of federal revenue for the day was tax receipts, which totaled $2.154 billion.

Because the combined total of the new money it borrowed and the total tax revenue it received on Thursday did not cover the day’s expenses, the Treasury drew down its cash balance by $6.022 billion during the day. By the close of business Thursday, the Treasury was left with just $41.951 billion in cash, down from the $309.833 billion cash balance it maintained at the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010.

The current legal limit on the national debt, as set in a statute passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, is $14.294 trillion. By the close of business Thursday, the debt subject to this limit had reached $14.211999 trillion—leaving the Treasury the legal authority to increase the debt by only another $82 billion. Last month, the Treasury predicted the national debt would hit the legal limit sometime between April 15 and May 31.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/feds-spent-142b-thursday-alone-pols-dick
 
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Granny says dey better send dat second stimulus check so's we can pay it...
:eusa_eh:
Gov’t Has Borrowed $803.73 Per U.S. Household Since GOP Majority Enacted Its First Spending Bill Last Month
Thursday, April 14, 2011 - The federal government has already borrowed an additional $803.73 per each household in the United States since the Republican House majority elected last November enacted its first law governing federal spending.
On March 1, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives enacted a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past March 4, when a CR passed in December by the Democrat-controlled House would expire. Only 6 House Republicans—led by Representatives Steve King (Iowa) and Michele Bachmann (Minn.)—voted against the March 1 CR.

The next day, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed the CR and President Obama signed it into law. On March 2, the day that first Republican-approved CR became law, the national debt was $14.1785 trillion ($14,178,525,108,267.60), according to the Bureau of the Public Debt. As of now, the national debt is $14.2729 trillion ($14,272,993,603,617.44).

That means the debt has increased $94.5 billion ($94,468,495,349.84) since the Republican-controlled House gained constitutional control of the federal purse strings. The Census Bureau estimated in March that there were 117,538,000 household in the United States. The $94.5 billion increase in the debt since the Republican House approved its first CR now equals $803.73 for every household in the country.

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