Changes

[[File:Spending increase of the Pelosi-Reid and Obama era.JPG|thumb|380px|'''''The unsustainable path of spending increases of the [[110th United States Congress|Pelosi-Reid]] and [[Obama]] era.''''' Source:Federal Reserve Board]]

[[File:Spending increase of the Pelosi-Reid and Obama era.JPG|thumb|380px|'''''The unsustainable path of spending increases of the [[110th United States Congress|Pelosi-Reid]] and [[Obama]] era.''''' Source:Federal Reserve Board]]

The '''Federal Debt Limit''', commonly known as the '''debt ceiling''', is the overall limit on federal government borrowing, as authorized by [[Congress]].  It is similar to an individual's credit card limit.

The '''Federal Debt Limit''', commonly known as the '''debt ceiling''', is the overall limit on federal government borrowing, as authorized by [[Congress]].  It is similar to an individual's credit card limit. As of early July 2025, the U.S. debt was nearly $36 trillion.<ref>https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/us-debt-now-37trn-worried-212745718.html</ref>

On Jan. 19, 2023, the [[U.S. Treasury]] "reached the debt limit of $31.4 trillion,"<ref name="CBS">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/debt-limit-ceiling-impact-on-your-finances-social-security-medicare-401k/</ref> which was set at that level when Congress increased it by $2.5 trillion as signed into law by President [[Joe Biden]] on Dec. 16, 2021.  On May 1, 2023, Treasury Secretary [[Janet Yellen]] declared a deadline of June 1, 2023, to increase the debt ceiling or else the federal government would default on its obligations.

The [[One Big Beautiful Bill]] Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, increased the debt ceiling by another $5 trillion to $41 trillion, roughly 75% the value of the entire [[U.S.]] [[stock market]]s. '''''The [[U.S.]] is in a worsening [[debt spiral]], whereby massive new debt is necessary to repay old debt'''''. "The founder of the world's biggest hedge fund, [[Ray Dalio]], believes that US borrowing is at a crossroads. On its current trajectory he estimates the US will soon be spending $10tn a year in loan and interest repayments."<ref>[https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/us-debt-now-37trn-worried-212745718.html Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor, "US debt is now $37tn – should we be worried?" (July 5, 2025)].</ref>

 

As of November 22, 2024, the debt of the [[United States]] exceeded $36 trillion.<ref>https://www.pgpf.org/article/the-national-debt-is-now-more-than-36-trillion-what-does-that-mean/</ref> "The last time the debt ceiling was reached, in January 2023, the figure stood at $31.4 trillion. Under a deal reached in June that same year, Congress suspended the debt ceiling until 1 January, 2025."<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4r3rped5qo</ref>

 

Disingenuously, "The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 suspended the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025, at which point the debt ceiling will be reinstated '''''at the amount of debt outstanding on that date''''' ...." <ref>https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/the-debt-ceiling-a-refresher/</ref> This way congressmen avoided approving a $5 trillion increase in the debt in merely 18 months.

== 2023 ==

== 2023 ==

[[House]] [[conservatives]] support [[Speaker]] [[Kevin McCarthy]]'s stance taken in his February 1, 2023, meeting at the [[White House]] with President [[Biden]]: no increase in the debt ceiling unless there is an agreement to reduce federal spending.<ref>https://fortune.com/2023/02/02/mccarthy-biden-meeting-debt-ceiling-hour-default-white-house/</ref>

 

[[House]] [[conservatives]] supported [[Speaker]] [[Kevin McCarthy]]'s stance taken in his February 1, 2023, meeting at the [[White House]] with President [[Biden]]: no increase in the debt ceiling unless there is an agreement to reduce federal spending.<ref>https://fortune.com/2023/02/02/mccarthy-biden-meeting-debt-ceiling-hour-default-white-house/</ref>

On April 26, 2023, the [[House]] passed a [[Republican]]-led debt ceiling increase bill that would reportedly trim $4.8 trillion from the deficit.<ref name="RC">https://rollcall.com/2023/04/26/house-passes-1-5-trillion-debt-limit-increase-spending-cuts/</ref> The vote was 217–215, with every [[Dem]] voting against this.  As reported by ''RollCall'', key elements of this bill included:<ref name="RC"/>

On April 26, 2023, the [[House]] passed a [[Republican]]-led debt ceiling increase bill that would reportedly trim $4.8 trillion from the deficit,<ref name="RC">https://rollcall.com/2023/04/26/house-passes-1-5-trillion-debt-limit-increase-spending-cuts/</ref> but the Senate never passed this. The vote in the House was 217–215, with every [[Dem]] voting against this.  As reported by ''RollCall'', key elements of this bill included:<ref name="RC"/>

*either increasing the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or extending it through March 2024.

*either increasing the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or extending it through March 2024.

*establishment requirements for authorization by [[Congress]] prior to imposing new major regulatory schemes.

*establishment requirements for authorization by [[Congress]] prior to imposing new major regulatory schemes.

== Liberal hysteria and History ==

== Liberal hysteria and History ==

[[File:Federal Debt graphic PD WC.jpg|thumb|280px|Components of Federal Debt As Percentage of GDP FY1980-FY2007]]

[[File:Federal Debt graphic PD WC.jpg|thumb|280px|Components of Federal Debt As Percentage of GDP FY1980-FY2007]]

There are two components to the [[national debt]]: the debt held by the public, and intra-governmental debt. The former is defined as the debt held by any individual or entity that is not the federal government, such as a mutual fund, individual investor, foreign government, or a municipal government.<ref name="concordcoalition.org">http://www.concordcoalition.org/issue-briefs/2011/0708/understanding-federal-debt-limit</ref> Intra-governmental debt is debt the government owes itself, such as the Social Security Trust Funds, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.<ref name="concordcoalition.org"/>  

There are two components to the [[national debt]]: the debt held by the public, and intra-governmental debt. The former is defined as the debt held by any individual or entity that is not the federal government, such as a mutual fund, individual investor, foreign government, or a municipal government.<ref name="concordcoalition.org">http://www.concordcoalition.org/issue-briefs/2011/0708/understanding-federal-debt-limit</ref> Intra-governmental debt is debt the government owes itself, such as the Social Security Trust Funds, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.<ref name="concordcoalition.org"/> The [[Thrift Savings Plan]], the Federal Government's version of a 401(k) plan for employees, also holds special "G Fund" debt instruments; whenever the ceiling is reached without an increase, it is suspended from obtaining more of those instruments, but once a new ceiling is in place, it must then purchase them and pay interest in the interim.

Foreign governments, especially communist [[China]], liberal institutional investors, insurance companies, and domestic governmental entities hold the vast majority of the US debt.  Very little of it is owned by [[grassroots]] [[American]] investors.<ref>https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2022/09/the-federal-government-has-borrowed-trillions-but-who-owns-all-that-debt</ref>

Foreign governments, especially communist [[China]], liberal institutional investors, insurance companies, and domestic governmental entities hold the vast majority of the US debt.  Very little of it is owned by [[grassroots]] [[American]] investors.<ref>https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2022/09/the-federal-government-has-borrowed-trillions-but-who-owns-all-that-debt</ref>

==See also==

==See also==

*[[Budget sequester]]

*[[Budget sequester]]

== External links ==

== External links ==