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Congress approves 1tr debt { May 27 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20030523/ap_on_go_co/debt_limit_8 http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20030523/ap_on_go_co/debt_limit_8 Yahoo! News Tue, May 27, 2003 Congress Approves Record Debt Limit Fri May 23, 3:05 PM ET Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo! By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Republican-led Congress passed legislation Friday allowing government debt to grow by a record $984 billion, brushing past Democrats' attempts to spotlight the federal IOUs that have resumed piling up under President Bush (news - web sites). The Senate gave the bill final congressional approval by 53-44, only hours after lawmakers had passed $330 billion in new tax cuts through 2013, a major priority for Bush and Republicans on Capitol Hill. D emocrats want to link that and other tax cuts Bush has won to the government's mounting debt. But GOP senators were united in an effort to get the measure to the White House — and out of the political limelight — quickly. Looking to intensify pressure on lawmakers to approve the bill without amendments, Republican leaders did not bring the measure to the Senate floor until the House had left town for a weeklong Memorial Day recess. The House had avoided a direct vote on the debt limit by reviving a rule that made its approval of a borrowing increase automatic when Congress finished its annual budget last month. "The House is no longer there," said Sen. Craig Thomas (news, bio, voting record), R-Wyo. "The fact is we need to go forward." With the outcome not in doubt, the debate was a political exercise. Democrats argued that federal interest payments on the mounting debt are draining the budget of money needed for basic federal programs. "That is a debt tax that every taxpayer has to pay, it is a debt tax that robs this generation and future generations of the ability to make our own fiscal choices," said Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record), D-Mont. After running annual surpluses during the last four years of the Clinton administration, federal deficits have returned. This year's is expected to well exceed $300 billion, a record, and huge future shortfalls are expected with no end in sight. Bush's certain signature would boost the government's debt limit to $7.38 trillion, enough to let it borrow money until sometime next year. The Treasury Department (news - web sites) had warned it needed the extension by next week "to preserve the confidence in the U.S. government and to prevent uncertainty that would adversely affect our economic recovery." The current $6.4 trillion limit was breached earlier this year, and Treasury paid its bills by shifting money from government retirement and other funds, maneuvers it said it could not make again. Failure to extend the borrowing limit could lead to a first-ever federal default — something neither party wants to be blamed for. By 52-47, the Senate rejected a Democratic amendment that would have limited the increase to $350 billion — the same size as the package of tax cuts and aid to states Congress had approved earlier on Friday. It would also have forced lawmakers to revisit the issue later this year, when Democrats could have used it again to focus on the government's fiscal status. Another Democratic amendment, defeated by the same margin, would have put the Repubican-controlled Senate on record as opposing any increase in the annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security (news - web sites) recipients. Republicans wanted to prevent Democrats from using that vote against GOP incumbents in campaign ads next year. __ The bill is H.J. Res. 51.

Billions in federal lands sold off { December 3 2007 } Budget deficit hits 374b { October 20 2003 } Buffett attacks america as rich spending junkies { March 7 2005 } Buffett makes billions betting against dollar { March 5 2005 } Bush presides over biggest spending since 1990 Cheney says deficits dont matter { January 12 2004 } China holds the mortgage to the dollar { August 31 2005 } China loses faith in dollar Congress approves 1tr debt { May 27 2003 } Debt near ceiling again { February 20 2003 } Fd chair blames long term rates on world savings glut { March 20 2006 } Federal deficit estimated almost another trillion { January 25 2005 } Financial crisis if foreign investors pull out { November 21 2005 } Foreign investors finance US debt by 2b a day Government borrows billion a day { October 8 2004 } Greenspan leaves us with record debt { January 23 2006 } Greenspan warns not to pay down debt { March 22 2001 } Raise debt limit Raises debt limit { June 27 2001 } Republicans raise debt limits to 9 trillion { March 17 2006 } Short term yields above long term in reinversion Snowballing debt awaits taxpayers { December 1 2003 } Treasury needs to raise 8 trillion debt limit { February 2006 } UN calls for asian help US deficits { January 26 2005 } US debt tops 9 trillion for first time { October 2007 } War spending drives record deficit estimate Whitehouse urges raise debt ceiling { May 20 2003 } Files Listed: 27

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