President Obama Agrees to Delay Debt Increase Request
EmailVacationing Congressional leaders have asked President Obama to delay his official notification that he will borrow more money to pay the government’s bills.
The United States is precariously close to its debt ceiling and the President was expected to request $1.2 trillion more in borrowing authority today, raising the nation’s debt to $16.4 trillion. Once the President submits his request, Congress has 15 days to vote it down or it automatically goes through.
But with the House out of session until Jan. 17 and the Senate out until Jan. 23, congressional leaders have asked the president to hold off and he has obliged.
“The administration is in discussions with leaders in both houses to determine the best timing for submission of the certification and any subsequent votes in the two houses,” said White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest.
A senior White House official said that the Treasury will use special accounting maneuvers to accommodate the delay and that the move will have no affect on the nation’s credit worthiness. The president is expected to submit the request in a matter of days. The official, who asked not to be named, said that the increase is essentially a done deal and if Congress were to vote it down, the president would veto. However, the White House does not anticipate any hurdles on this issue.
-ABC’s Ann Compton contribute to this report.
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“the President was expected to request $1.2 trillion more in borrowing” – ABC News
U N B E L I E V A B L E !
This guy Barry just doesn’t get it.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
Don’t worry, he’s got some spare change for now!
Posted by: deadwrestler | December 30, 2011, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
Nice of him but how will we pay for his vacation?
Posted by: ray | December 30, 2011, 4:19 pm 4:19 pm
“the President was expected to request $1.2 trillion more in borrowing” – ABC News
U N B E L I E V A B L E !
This guy Barry just doesn’t get it.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
Actually, you don’t get it. It’s Congress – including a majority Republican House – who have been authoring the spending. The President is mandated.
Every President since Harry Truman has added to the national debt expressed in absolute dollars. The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since March 1962, including 18 times under Ronald Reagan, eight times under Bill Clinton, seven times under George W. Bush and three times (to August 2011) under Barack Obama.
It was the political games played by the Republican politicians last time that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.
How quickly people forget.
Posted by: Tom | December 30, 2011, 4:53 pm 4:53 pm
Senator Barack Obama March 20, 2006 — “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. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
Yes, hiow soon we forget…..
Posted by: Logicsgood5 | December 30, 2011, 5:21 pm 5:21 pm
Time to quit golfing, campaigning and finger pointing – and start LEADING President Downgrade!
Posted by: Logicsgood5 | December 30, 2011, 5:26 pm 5:26 pm
They don’t forget Tom, they just think everyone else will if they repeat themselves enough. I believe it’s called willful ignorance.
Posted by: 40acres | December 30, 2011, 5:27 pm 5:27 pm
“Actually, you don’t get it. It’s Congress – including a majority Republican House – who have been authoring the spending. The President is mandated.” – Tom
OK, then I guess Barry Hussein Obama won’t mind when they don’t raise the debt ceiling this time.
I’m glad we got that settled.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
It was the political games played by the Republican politicians last time that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.
How quickly people forget.
Posted by: Tom | December 30, 2011, 4:53 pm 4:53 pm
The vast majority of Americans have not forgotten. They correctly blame Republicans for the economy and the credit downgrade as well as Congressional dysfunction.
The GOP is not well-liked. Its unfavorability and disapproval ratings are HIGH.
Ron Paul, the anti-establishment candidate is going to win the nomination. Or at least Iowa. Gingrich can cry all he wants. He’s over.
Posted by: Lauryn | December 30, 2011, 7:29 pm 7:29 pm
When the Republicans raised the debt ceiling Obama said it was a failure of leadership. Now he’s asking for it to be raised himself. Hillarious stuff this politics.
Posted by: newcountryman | December 30, 2011, 7:39 pm 7:39 pm
The debt limit agreement imposed substantive and procedural requirements on what was until this year a routine act , New countryman. Boehner is indeed a failure although I understand that you’re taking a quote that Obama made in regard to Bush and using against him. Fine. That does nothing to change the fact that the goal of the Republicans is to make governing by a Democrat impossible and to beat Obama in 2012. That is all they care about. They do not care about the country.
Americans correctly blame Republicans for the economy and the credit downgrade as well as Congressional dysfunction. And guess what? Americans are sick of their games. Their disapproval is extremely high and it is generally agreed that Boehner is a terrible Speaker.
Posted by: Lauryn | December 30, 2011, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
“Actually, you don’t get it. It’s Congress – including a majority Republican House – who have been authoring the spending. The President is mandated.” – Tom
OK, then I guess Barry Hussein Obama won’t mind when they don’t raise the debt ceiling this time.
I’m glad we got that settled.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
We can be sure the credit agencies will mind if the Republicans pull another stunt like that.
Posted by: Bill | December 30, 2011, 11:31 pm 11:31 pm
POSTED BY: TOM | DECEMBER 30, 2011, 4:53 PM 4:53 PM, if all the President you listed would have ask every time for a TRILLION dollar increase like this president does, where do you think we would be right now???? He has outspend every president including Buch, but then you would like to rewrite history,
Posted by: Lizzie | December 31, 2011, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm
“It was the political games played by the Republican politicians last time that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.” – Tom
Wrong again Tom.
It was the inability of Congress to deal with the Massive Debt of the Federal Government and come up with the necessary budget cuts that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.
Of course folks such as yourself didn’t easily forget because you never knew the truth in the first place. You can’t forget something you never knew.
Posted by: Noz | December 31, 2011, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
“Actually, you don’t get it. It’s Congress – including a majority Republican House – who have been authoring the spending. The President is mandated.” – Tom
OK, then I guess Barry Hussein Obama won’t mind when they don’t raise the debt ceiling this time.
I’m glad we got that settled.
Posted by: Noz | December 30, 2011, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
We can be sure the credit agencies will mind if the Republicans pull another stunt like that.
Posted by: Bill | December 30, 2011, 11:31 pm 11:31 pm
*****
Posted by: Jeff | December 31, 2011, 2:49 pm 2:49 pm
“It was the political games played by the Republican politicians last time that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.” – Tom
Wrong again Tom.
It was the inability of Congress to deal with the Massive Debt of the Federal Government and come up with the necessary budget cuts that ended up with the credit rating of the United States being downgraded.
Posted by: Noz | December 31, 2011, 2:46 pm
Absolutely 100% incorrect. It WAS the stupid brinksmanship played by the House Republicans that turned a routine debt limit increase into World War 3. They did it deliberately, knowing full well what they risked. They looked at it as win-win for them. Instead it was lose-lose, as most thinking adults realized what they did and why they did it. It hurt them much more politically than it hurt the Democrats. Just like 1995.
Posted by: A Cynic | December 31, 2011, 5:11 pm 5:11 pm
Interesting take on that A Cynic.
With that type of reasoning we will always have to keep spending and going deeper in debt.
What you’re saying is the adult thing to do is keep heading into insolvency unabated.
Why don’t you liberals see any other way forward then a bankrupt USA?
Posted by: Noz | December 31, 2011, 6:37 pm 6:37 pm