Obama wants another $1.2 trillion

Dec 30, 2011

Obama wants another $1.2 trillion

Under debt limit agreement, increase automatic unless Congress votes “no” to request

by Peter Grady –

Just months after Congress and the President went through a difficult fight over raising the debt limit, Obama is asking to raise the limit by another $1.2 trillion.

Last summer, Republican members of the house who voted against raising the debt ceiling, were called terrorists along with Tea Party members who opposed raising the ceiling.

In order to resolve the standoff, Congress passed legislation that would give the President the authority to ask for an additional $1.2 trillion increase in the limit. Unless both houses vote against the increase within 15 days of receiving the request, Obama would automatically get his increase.

With Congress currently recessed until the end of January, Obama is now asking for that $1.2 trillion increase. The request will take the debt limit up to $16.39 trillion.

Brian Darling, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation, says they are not surprised and have been expecting the increase for quite some time.

“Washington can’t control spending,” Darling says. “When we have $15.1 trillion in national debt that we’ve racked up over the years, it’s pretty clear that the President’s intending on spending us into the poor house.”

Darling also said he thinks the timing is significant. With Congress recessed and the end of the year being a slow news cycle, he believes the administration is using the holiday season to its advantage. “It’s kind of a dead time for news stories in Washington, DC and nationally, therefore, it’ll be less noticed that Obama’s asking for this massive hike in the debt ceiling.”

After last week’s battle over extending the payroll tax cut, it is unclear if Republicans have the political stomach to stand up to fight raising the debt limit once again. If the House were to vote against the debt limit increase, it would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate. It would also probably not survive a presidential veto.

Share on Facebook