What is the one thing that is easy to get into but difficult to get out of? Things like troubles, lies and bad habits do indeed fit the description perfectly. But there's one more thing that fits the bill and has most Americans worried these days. Well, it answers to the name of debt! The Economist is carrying a report about how US Treasury department will soon run out of legal authority to borrow. In other words, if the US debt ceiling is not raised soon, the country may well face the prospect of a full on default.
However, raising the debt ceiling is not the easiest of jobs out there. For under US law, while the congress can sanction any budget, its ability to borrow is restricted by the debt ceiling. And this ceiling can only be raised with a separate vote. In other words, the process of arriving at the debt ceiling is separate and distinct from financing government operations. What this has done is that it has effectively given a tool in the hands of the opposition to force the Government to arrive at some sort of compromise. And the last time such compromise was being reached, it took a downgrade in US credit ratings to arrive at some sort of consensus. We just hope the history doesn't re peat itself again.
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