Fox News reports that, while democrats are hoping to raise the debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion dollars to an undisclosed amount without any budget changes, many republicans refuse to approve the raise until government spending is cut. The situation has turned into a potential race against time as government spending gets closer to the debt ceiling with no major compromise in sight.
The Huffington Post reports that, while some politicians on the side of lowering government spending are happy to raise the ceiling with that compromise in place, Senator Jim Demint (R-S.C.) has proposed an amendment to the Constitution that forces the federal government to balance the budget every year. His idea is backed by all 47 Republican senators and 11 Democrats.
But politicians on Capitol Hill aren’t the only ones in the country worried about this issue, Broadcast Journalism junior Ashley Hendrick also believes something needs to be done to slow down government spending.
“We’re in an awful lot of debt and the government just keeps spending more money and I can’t figure out why,” Hendrick said. “If you spend more money you get more debt and I think the Republicans are kind of going in the right direction with their idea.”
According to the Washington Post, a major worry about the fight over the ceiling is what will happen if the government hits it. The debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since 1962, with the last raise occurring on January 28, 2010 from $12.4 trillion to the current amount of $14.3 trillion.
“That is disgusting. I don’t know how we’ll ever pay that back.” Sports and Exercise Science sophomore Kelli Page said.
The Huffington Post reports that, while spending has been close to reaching the limit before, it has always been raised by Congress before it hit the limit, including six times in the past three years.
According to CBS, it is not known what would happen if the debt ceiling was hit, but it would mean the U.S. government would possibly default on its debt and cause lenders to sue the government for the money they are owed if Treasury
Secretary Timothy F. Geithner cannot find funds to pay them.
CBS also reports that hitting the ceiling may also cause interest rates to skyrocket as lenders prepare for a possible default and tax hikes may be felt by the average American as the government tries to bring in more money to pay their debts.
While the 2012 budget has been in headlines over the past few months, news sources are now focusing their attention to the debt ceiling as politicians in Washington discuss how to handle the looming crisis that they may face in the next few weeks.
