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In 6 Months Since Budget Deal: Debt up More Than $1 Trillion

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debtIn the six months that have passed since then-retiring House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cut a budget deal with President Barack Obama that suspended the legal limit on the federal debt until March 15, 2017, the federal debt has increased by more than $1 trillion.

The Senate passed “The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015” with a vote held in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 30. Obama signed it on Monday, Nov. 2.

At the close business on Oct. 30, 2015, the total federal debt was $18,152,981,685,747.52. By the close of business on April 28, 2016—the latest date for which the Treasury has published the number–the total federal debt was $19,186,207,744,589.55 . . .

On Monday, Nov. 2–the day Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act and thus suspended the debt limit–the debt took a big leap. It closed that day at $18,492,091,120,833.99—up $339,109,435,086.47 from its $18,152,981,685,747.52 closing on Friday, Oct. 30.

Prior to that, the part of the federal debt subject to the then-legal limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35 had been frozen just below that limit for more than seven months (from March 13, 2015 through Oct. 30, 2015), during a “debt issuance suspension period” that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had declared on March 13, 2015, to push back the date at which the debt limit would be exceeded. (Read more from “In 6 Months Since Budget Deal: Debt up More Than $1 Trillion” HERE)

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National Debt Hits $19 Trillion

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The national debt hit $19 trillion for the first time ever on Friday, and came in at $19.012 trillion . . .

That’s a slightly stepped-up pace compared to the last few $1 trillion mileposts. It took about 14 months for the debt to climb from $17 trillion to $18 trillion, and about the same amount of time to go from $16 trillion to $17 trillion.

The federal government has been free to borrow as much as needed for the last several years. Years ago, Congress passed legislation to increase the debt ceiling to a certain level of debt, and borrowing had to stop once that limit was hit.

But increasingly, Congress has instead allowed more borrowing by suspending the debt ceiling for long periods of time. That allows the government to borrow any amount it needs until the suspension period ends. (Read more from “National Debt Hits $19 Trillion” HERE)

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Debt Limit Coming a Month Earlier Than Expected

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The Treasury Department said Thursday it would reach the debt limit a bit earlier than was expected by many on Capitol Hill.

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew told Congress in a new letter that thanks in part to lower-than-expected quarterly tax receipts, the extraordinary measures to forestall breaching the debt limit, combined with the new revenues, will run their course just a week after the resignation of Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, takes effect . . .

“Based on this new information, we now estimate that Treasury is likely to exhaust its extraordinary measures on or about Thursday, November 5,” Lew wrote in a letter to Boehner.

“At that point, we could be left to fund the government with only the cash we have on hand, which we currently forecast to be below $30 billion. This amount would be far short of net expenditures on certain days, which can be as high as $60 billion.” (Read more from “Debt Limit Coming a Month Earlier Than Expected” HERE)

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$2,883,250,000,000: Federal Taxes Set Record Through August

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money-ap_photo-j_scott_applewhite-2The federal government raked in a record of approximately $2,883,250,000,000 in tax revenues through the first eleven months of fiscal 2015 (Oct. 1, 2014 through the end of August), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Friday.

That equaled approximately $19,346 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in August.

It is also up about $198,425,330,000 in constant 2015 dollars from the $2,684,824,670,000 in revenue (in inflation-adjusted 2015 dollars) that the Treasury raked in during the first eleven months of fiscal 2014.

Despite the record tax revenues of $2,883,250,000,000 in the first eleven months of this fiscal year, the government spent $3,413,210,000,000 in those eleven months, and, thus, ran up a deficit of $529,960,000,000 during the period.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total seasonally adjusted employment in the United States in August (including both full and part-time workers) was 149,036,000. That means that the federal tax haul so far this fiscal year has equaled $19,345.99 for every person in the United States with a job. (Read more from “$2,883,250,000,000: Federal Taxes Set Record Through August” HERE)

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BIS Fears Emerging Market Maelstrom as Fed Tightens

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newPic_7805_PNG_3315703bDebt ratios have reached extreme levels across all major regions of the global economy, leaving the financial system acutely vulnerable to monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, the world’s top financial watchdog has warned.

The Bank for International Settlements said the wild market ructions of recent weeks and capital outflows from China are warning signs that the massive build-up in credit is coming back to haunt, compounded by worries that policymakers may be struggling to control events.

“We are not seeing isolated tremors, but the release of pressure that has gradually accumulated over the years along major fault lines,” said Claudio Borio, the bank’s chief economist.

The Swiss-based BIS said total debt ratios are now significantly higher than they were at the peak of the last credit cycle in 2007, just before the onset of global financial crisis.

Combined public and private debt has jumped by 36 percentage points since then to 265pc of GDP in the the developed economies. (Read more from “BIS Fears Emerging Market Maelstrom as Fed Tightens” HERE)

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150 Days: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at This Number

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treasury-ap_photo-2013-carolyn_kasterThe portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Monday, August 10, at $18,112,975,000,000, according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

That, according to the Treasury’s statements, makes 150 straight days the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000 . . .

On July 30, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent a letter to the leaders of Congress informing them that he was extending a “debt issuance suspension period” through October 30.

In practice, that means that unless Congress enacts new legislation to increase the limit on the federal debt before then, the Treasury will continue for at least the next eleven weeks to issue Daily Treasury Statements that show the federal debt subject to the limit beginning and ending each day frozen just below that limit.

The Daily Treasury Statement for March 13 was the first to show the debt subject to the limit closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since then has reported the same thing: the debt closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. (Read more from “150 Days: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at This Number” HERE)

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Feds Manipulating the Numbers: US Debt Now Stuck at Same Number for 15 Weeks

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The portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Friday, June 26, at $18,112,975,000,000, according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

That, according to the Treasury’s statements, makes 15 straight weeks that the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000.

$18,112,975,000,000 is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35.

The Daily Treasury Statement for March 13 was the first to show the federal debt subject to the limit closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since then has reported the same thing: the debt closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000.

Every Daily Treasury Statement since Monday, March 16, has reported the debt beginning and ending each day at $18,112,975,000,000. (Read more from “US Debt Now Stuck at Same Number for 15 Weeks” HERE)

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Government Debt to Reach 107% of US Economy in 2040 but Current Number has Remained Mysteriously Frozen for 90-Days

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By Kasia Klimasinska. US government debt held by the public is expected to rise to 107 percent of the economy in 2040 from 74 percent this year, the Congressional Budget Office said, citing an aging population and rising health-care costs.

With debt “already unusually high” relative to gross domestic product, “further sustained increases could be especially harmful to economic growth,” the CBO said in a long-term fiscal report released Tuesday in Washington. “To put the federal budget on a sustainable path for the long term, lawmakers would have to make major changes to tax policies, spending policies, or both.” (Read more from “Government Debt to Reach 107% of US Economy in 2040” HERE)

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90 Days: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at $18,112,975,000,000

By Terence P. Jeffrey. The portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Thursday, June 11, at $18,112,975,000,000, according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

That, according to the Treasury’s statements, makes 90 straight days the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000.

$18,112,975,000,000 is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35.

The Daily Treasury Statement for March 13 was the first to show the federal debt subject to the limit closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since then has reported the same thing: the debt closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000.

Every Daily Treasury Statement since Monday, March 16, has reported the debt beginning and ending each day at $18,112,975,000,000. (Read more from “90 Days: Treasury Says Debt Has Been Frozen at $18,112,975,000,000” HERE)

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Watch: College Students Informed About Their Share of the National Debt, and Their Reactions Are Priceless

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Campus Reform is back with yet another video that is sure to stir up debate. Caleb Bonham informs college students about their share of the national debt – in an extraordinarily creative way.

Bonham asks college students – among a few others – when they were born. Then he queries what they would do with the hundreds of thousands of dollars they are due to pay the federal government.

Several of the respondents can’t curb their shock and surprise before going off on comments about what that means to them. (Read more from “Watch: College Students Informed About Their Share of the National Debt, and Their Reactions Are Priceless” HERE)

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Ponzi: Treasury Issues $1T in New Debt in 8 Weeks—To Pay Old Debt

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Daily Treasury Statement that was released Wednesday afternoon as Americans were preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving revealed that the U.S. Treasury has been forced to issue $1,040,965,000,000 in new debt since fiscal 2015 started just eight weeks ago in order to raise the money to pay off Treasury securities that were maturing and to cover new deficit spending by the government.

During those eight weeks, Treasury took in $341,591,000,000 in revenues. That was a record for the period between Oct. 1 and Nov. 25. But that record $341,591,000,000 in revenues was not enough to finance ongoing government spending let alone pay off old debt that matured.

RECORD REVENUE-NOV 25-2014-CHART

The Treasury also drew down its cash balance by $45.057 billion during the period, starting with $126,568,000,000 in cash and ending with $81,511,000,000.

The only way the Treasury could handle the $942,103,000,000 in old debt that matured during the period plus finance the new deficit spending the government engaged in was to roll over the old debt into new debt and issue enough additional new debt to cover the new deficit spending.

Read more from this story HERE.