National Debt Tops $14 Trillion

Early fireworks in the new Congress, Part Three
Posted by Paul at 8:09 PM A reader who has first-hand experience from the 1990s playing "chicken" with Debt ceiling votes tells me that "there's no useful political leverage" to be gained from the exercise. He compares threats to withhold raising the Debt ceiling with threats to nuke the old Soviet Union - "superficially powerful, but actually too dreadful to seriously consider." This was my initial thought, and it was probably a good one, whatever Lindsey Graham says on Meet the Press. That sa...

The coming debt ceiling showdown (Part One)
Once the Republican Congress is officially sworn in, they will be faced with an immediate dilemma that will be a true test as to how they will govern. There will be a vote to raise the $14.3 Trillion National Debt ceiling in the coming months and time is already short. The National Debt officially hit $14 Trillion last weekend and may reach the $14.3 Trillion mark by March.   Refusing to raise the Debt Limit would either force the Federal Government to stop spending or create a default.
...

Inside the Beltway
ONCOMING UNDECILLION Safety in numbers? Certainly not. Multiple alarming headlines warn: National Debt at $14 Trillion. If cosmic astronomer Carl Sagan had ever been asked to note such a figure during his lifetime, he most likely would have used this......

GOP freshmen step onto the tightrope
Recess is over, and now the incoming Republican class of the 112th Congress must pivot from talking tough to making tough choices. Among their first decisions: How will they work with a Republican leadership team that is steeped in the ways of Washington? Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 “I don’t have a problem with disagreeing and voicing that with a leader if I truly disagree,” Rep.-elect Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) said in an interview with POLITICO. &ldquo...;

Note to Congress: Don't blow it
FORTUNE -- Dear 112th Congress: Congratulations and so forth, but we don't have time for pleasantries. I'm afraid I have bad news. Do you recall all those charts you've seen showing Medicare costs, Social Security costs, federal interest payments, and the National Debt rising steadily for years and then suddenly taking off like a fighter jet? (If not, you can see them in the Treasury's latest Financial Report of the U.S. Government.) Well, the jet's barreling down the runway. Things have been g...

As National Debt Obama Ran Up Tops $14 TRILLION (with a T), Obamas Architect of Economic Disaster Whines About Debt Limit
Well, look, it pains me that we would even be talking about this. This is not a game. You know, the Debt ceiling is not something to toy with. If we hit the Debt ceiling, that’s essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on The Economy would be catastrophic. That would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008. No doubt defaulting on U.S. obligations would be bad, but Goolsbee’s missing the point. ...

Ari Melber: New Congress Begins with GOP Charades and Debt Threats
What are we to make of the fact that two of the top priorities for the 112th Congress, convening for the first time today, involve an irrelevant charade and an irresponsible threat? Repealing Health Care, a pure symbolic activity, is one of the first votes scheduled for next week. House Republicans know their bill will not pass the Senate or clear a presidential Veto. Maybe they want to get their irrelevant votes out of the way early. But it gets worse. The bigger story is the truly bizarre t...

HA! Weaker Pelosis parting shot Deficit reduction has been a high priority
HA! Weaker Pelosi’s parting shot - “Deficit reduction has been a high priority” Nancy Pelosi proves that Botox rots the brain. Pelosi also proves that Liberalism/progressivism is a Mental Disorder. San Fran Nan had her final Press Conference as House Speaker today. And according to Fox Nation, Pelosi had the audacity to say: “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” WHAT THE F? Lets examine the FACTS. Democrats took over C...

Bond crisis on the way?
With strong Christmas sales and the Stock Market surging to a two-year high, talk is spreading that the long-awaited recovery is at hand. But gleaning the news from Europe and Asia as U.S. cities, states and the Federal Government sink into Debt, it is difficult to believe a worldwide Financial Crisis that hammers governments, banks and bondholders alike can be long averted. Consider. Fitch and Moody's have just downgraded the debt of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Hungary. In Budapest, the poli...

Nancy Pelosi on Obamacare repeal: repeal would do very serious violence to the national debt
Pehaps Pelosi hasn't read the lasts CBO report. It now estimates, without Accounting gimmicks, ObamaCare will add to the National Debt....

As A Senator President Obama Voted Against Raising the Debt Ceiling, Called it Leadership Failure
My, oh my, how things change. In 2006 President Obama, who at the time was a First Term US Senator with ambitions, voted against raising the Debt ceiling. He said: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s Debt Limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … I...

European Bond Spreads Leak Wider Following Portuguese Bill Auction
: The German Federal Government topped up its 2.50%-coupon, January 2021 Bund by E3.916 billion at a minimum price of 96.79 the Bundesbank announced Wednesday. The average yield on the top-up of the 10-year Bund was 2.87%, up from 2.59% at the bond's initial auction November 24. The weighted average price came to 96.81, and the government accepted 100% of bids at the minimum price. There were a total of E6.290 billion in bids for today's sale, resulting in a bid/cover ratio (excluding Bundesbank...

How to cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon
NEW YORK -- Lawrence Korb is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He served as Assistant Secretary of defense in the Reagan Administration. Make no mistake: The nation's Debt threatens our National Security. That's not just my opinion. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is among those who have warned that the unsustainable accumulation of Debt will put the nation at risk by sapping the vitality of our economy. Email Print Comment The Pentagon cann...

New Years Resolution: Stop the Fiscal Insanity
Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson, FloydReports.com As we enter the New Year, the financial landscape is littered with essentially bankrupt governments. Governments at every level are in dire financial straits. During the last decade’s governmental spending binge, total state and municipal bond Debt has nearly doubled to almost $3 Trillion, while federal Debt rose over 150 percent from under $6 trillion to almost $14 trillion. Several dozen cities, including Harrisburg, Los Angeles, and Detroit, teete...

National debt greater than $14 trillion
Published: Jan. 4, 2011 at 9:31 AM Austan Goolsbee, White House economic adviser, listens to President Barack Obama speak in Washington Sept.. 10, 2010. UPI/Andrew Harrer/Pool WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury reported Tuesday the National Debt -- as of the last day of 2010 -- topped $14 Trillion. The deb increased from $13 trillion on June 1 to $14.02 trillion Dec. 31, CBS News reported. The increase means the Debt is approaching the statutory ceiling of $14.294 trillion set by Cong...

US risks default as it is quickly approaching its debt ceiling with over $14 Trillion in external debt
Debt in the US is as high as it has ever been. It is now over $14 TT. It is even above the numbers that are presented below on CBS. Via CBS: The latest posting today of the National Debt shows it has topped $14 Trillion for the first time. The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52. It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 Trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 Trillion on Dec. 31. It ...

Outgoing House Speaker Pelosi Has Lost Her Mind, She Says Deficit Reduction Has Been a High Priority
UNBELIEVABLE … is it any wonder why Democrats lost their majority in the House and Pelosi lost her gavel. Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has either lost her mind, is delusional or is just a miserable liar who has no concept of reality or caring for the American People.  Speaker Pelosi told reporters today that, “Deficit reduction has been a high priority .” WHAT!!! With Pelosi Democrat math, a  $5.2 Trillion federal defict increase in j

Mega Millions Jackpot Fuels Dreams, Ticket Sales
Like this Story? Share it: A customer purchases Mega Millions lottery tickets. (CBS) (CBS) CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports at lottery counters across much of the country Tuesday business is brisk with sales peaking at $240,000 worth of tickets a minute. The dreams are flowing just as quickly. Mega Millions says they increased the jackpot to $355 million earlier Tuesday based on strong Ticket Sales. "Well, you know, maybe get a candy Apple red Lamborghini or something like that,...

Exposing the NYC Sanitation Workers
Hot Air has this video from the local CBS News reporting on Sanitation workers not plowing streets.The question is - what will and can be done to individual bosses? Does any one have confidence that Mayor Bloomberg is willing to mix it up with a union and hold tough? Perhaps a political appointee might lose his job and maybe those individuals caught on tape, but don't expect any strong action. Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz ...

CBS News Bill Plante: GOP Ready to Pounce on President Obama Video 1/4/11
Here is video of CBS News Reporter Bill Plante this morning saying that President Obama is returning to a very different Washington, D.C. - one where the GOP is “ready to pounce” on him. Plante is referring to plans by the new GOP House to vote for Repeal of ObamaCare on Wednesday, January 12. ...

Dunkin Donuts Offers Free Coffee to Blood Donors: What's the Catch?
(istockphoto) (CBS) If old-fashioned altruism doesn't get you to donate blood, maybe free coffee will. At least that's the idea behind the fourth annual "Give a Pint, Get a Pound" campaign put together by Dunkin Donuts and the American Red Cross. Throughout the month of January - National Blood Donor Month - the campaign entitles blood Donors to a coupon that can be redeemed for a pound of coffee at a Dunkin Donuts restaurant. What's the catch? The campaign is in effect in only seven states: ...

Nazi-era Cemetery for Mentally Ill to be Dug Up
Source: CBS News Jan. 4, 2011 Nazi-era Cemetery for Mentally Ill to be Dug Up The Remains of People Systematically Killed in Austrian Mental Hospital by Nazis to be Exhumed for Construction Project (AP) VIENNA - A disused hospital cemetery will be dug up in March in the search for Victims methodically killed by the Nazis because of physical or mental disabilities, officials said Tuesday. The cemetery in the western Austrian town of Hall contains the remains of 220 people. Officials at the hosp...

The next 5%
The market has had a bid to it so for in 11’. There was a solid seller above 82.00. We’ll see if he’s there the next time around. Why this trade now? Silly answer, it seems like an obvious choice. I’m just hoping some other folks see it that way too. If you’re looking for a different voice on this consider these words from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at The Telegraph . Japan will slip back into technical ...

Battle Brewing Over Federal Debt Limit
As a new and politically divided Congress prepares to convene Wednesday, the newly muscular Republicans and the White House seem to be on a collision course over whether to raise the federal Debt ceiling....

Jeff Rubin: Peak Oil Means Massive Sovereign Defaults
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Legendary oil pundit Jeff Rubin has an article out today on the effect of Peak Oil on Sovereign Debt. He says treasury yields are incredibly low, despite record levels of borrowing in recent years, because everyone is counting on a booming recovery. But you can't have a booming recovery when oil climbs over $100. That suddenly makes all that government Debt very energy intensive. It will take huge amounts of energy, particularly oil, to achiev...