Debt Limit Increase. This bill (House Joint Resolution 45) would raise the national debt limit from $12.4 trillion to $14.29 trillion — a $1.9 trillion increase. This increase, reported Congressional Quarterly, “should be large enough to cover borrowing into early next year.” Really? To put this astronomical $1.9 trillion increase in perspective, consider that the total national debt did not top $1 trillion until 1981.
The Senate passed H. J. Res. 45 on January 28, 2010 by a vote of 60 to 39 (Roll Call 14). We have assigned pluses to the nays because raising the national debt limit allows the federal government to borrow more money and continue its gross fiscal irresponsibility.
