Venango County Tea Party Patriots

A non-partisan, non-profit, non-member, association dedicated to educating the public and promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free market economics, and all other lawful activities.

debt limit

/

Senate Leadership Reaches Deal to End Government Shutdown

Senate leaders jump-started negotiations over a compromise bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling late Tuesday after House Republicans’ efforts to pass their own alternative crumbled in embarrassing fashion for GOP leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., were working to nail down the details of the plan through mid-morning Wednesday. Their plan was expected to reinstate government spending through mid-January and extend the debt limit through early February. Their plan also called for lawmakers to work toward agreement on an overarching budget by Dec. 13, as well as stricter income verification for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Senate leaders continue to work to nail down the final details of the arrangement and indications were that it would actually be the House that would act first upon the deal in order to expedite the legislative process.

Read more.

/

Why Does the US Debt Keep Rising?

Out-of-control spending by Congress and the Obama Administration has once again maxed out the latest debt limit—a nearly $17 trillion burden that harms job growth [1], gives special interests a pass, and lowers American families’ personal income.

Inspired by Dave Ramsey’s recent post “6 Reasons People Stay in Debt,” [2] we compiled six reasons why Members of Congress, the Obama Administration, and others in Washington avoid the path to financial stability [3] in favor of big spending…

1. They want to keep up appearances.

The truth is, ever-growing entitlement programs drive ever-greater government spending. Everyone knows it. Some leaders in both parties have even worked together on first-step solutions agreeable to both sides [5]. Yet rather than risk Warren Buffett’s taxpayer-funded benefits decreasing [6], politicians pretend America’s national budget can handle all the extensive promises they’ve made over the past several decades.

2. They are unwilling to sacrifice even wasteful spending.

Like a recent guest on “Hannity [7],” some in Washington will defend even the most ridiculous spending. Yet Congress could eliminate billions in spending tomorrow. Heritage expert Patrick Louis Knudsen, who spent two decades working on the House Budget Committee, recently went line-by-line through the federal budget to find $42 billion in unnecessary, poorly run, and duplicative federal government programs [8].

3. They fear changing “business as usual” in Washington.

Read more.

/

Federal Debt Unchanged for 100 Days and Counting

The Treasury Department’s latest official daily accounting of the U.S. government’s receipts, expenditures and borrowings–released this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.–indicates that the legally limited debt of the federal government has now been exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for 100 straight days.

The Daily Treasury Statement released today showed the status of the government’s accounts as of the close of business on Friday, Aug. 23. Because the Treasury does no business over the weekend, the federal government’s debt did not change on Saturday or Sunday.

The statement for Aug. 23 said the federal debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress was $16,699,396,000,000—or $25 million below the current limit of $16,699,421,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since May 17 has also shown the legally limited debt at $16,699,396,000,000, or $25 million below the limit.

During the 100-day period from Friday, May 17 to Sunday, Aug. 25, according to the Treasury, the legally limited debt of the federal government did not change.

On May 17, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent House Speaker John Boehner a letter indicating that the Treasury was then hitting the legal limit on the debt and that he would begin using “extraordinary measures” to allow the government to continue borrowing money without exceeding that limit.

Read more.