Thurs., Sept. 27, 2007: Government Raises Its Own Debt Ceiling by $850 Billion

[18:27]
Now before the Senate is a resolution raising the ceiling on the government's debt limit. By $850 billion! Baucus (MT) says that the Senate has no choice but to approve it; that if the Senate does not raise the limit, the U.S. Treasury will default. This will be the fourth increase under W. The Treasury Debt is something like $10 trillion.

Baucus says that raising the debt ceiling is like paying our credit card bill. "The bill's due, you gotta pay it." Except most bills are paid with cash whereas this one is paid with debt (in the form of federal reserve notes, a.k.a. dollar bills).

[18:24]
Arguments against extending/expanding the children's health insurance bill:

• First, a slippery slope argument. Truly, the price of the program is going up under this legislation. It is not a simple renewal. Rather, this is the government moving into socialized medicine, if ever so slowly.

• Second, it affects immigration policy (somehow) because it expands coverage for low-income children.

• Three, the government spends too much money already.

[Precap]
Earlier today, the Senate voted for cloture on the Hate Crimes Amdt. to the FY 2008 Defense Spending Bill. Cloture limits further debate and more or less means that the measure itself will soon pass.

The Senate also voted for cloture on a reauthorization/expansion of a children's health insurance program administered and paid in part by the federal gov't. Some Republicans oppose this reauthorization because the price of the program is hereby going up. Nonetheless, the program has serious bipartisan support and the Senate will pass it tonight. However, Bush appears rime to veto the bill. Therefore, it is highly likely that we are about to see if Congress can override a presidential veto for the first time during W's tenure. This takes 67 senators (as well as two-thirds of the House). The alternative is passing a simple renewal of the current program. Are there 67 votes for the bill? We'll find out later tonight.

Looking ahead, the Senate must pass what's called a Continuing Budget Resolution (CBR) to fund gov't departments at current levels until a proper budget bill is passed. The government's fiscal year begins each year on Oct. 1. Without an FY 2008 budget bill for a given department, that department can't operate without the CBR.