Under the potential package, the GOP would agree to most of President Clinton's request for additional domestic spending this year and to an increase in the
national debt ceiling.
Now, a year after he "walked through the door," this year's deficit is projected to be $1.56 trillion, Congress voted in February to raise the
national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion (to $14.3 trillion), and the Obama administration plans to add $13 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
In March, the United States will hit its
national debt ceiling or borrowing authority, forcing Congress and the new administration to act on legislation that could have a profound impact on federal budget priorities.
The Republican leadership in Congress has expressed doubt about the need to raise the
national debt ceiling, claiming that Geithner is exaggerating the danger.
That provision increased the
national debt ceiling by $789 billion, from $11.315 trillion to $12.104 trillion.
The Stenholm amendment, HJ Res 290, would have required that total spending not exceed total revenues, the President to submit a balanced budget, a three-fifths majority in each House on any bill or amendment which would cause a deficit, and a three-fifths majority in each House to increase the
national debt ceiling.
government would risk damaging its credit worthiness if it doesn't agree to raise the
national debt ceiling past $14.3 trillion in the next few months, U.S.
Always favoring increases in the
national debt ceiling, foreign-aid programs, and federal involvement in education, he even backed imposing federal wage and price controls on America's industry soon after he arrived on Capitol Hill.
One of the first votes that I cast on coming to the Senate in 1981 was on whether to raise the
national debt ceiling to over $1 trillion.
Where Republicans had regularly done their best to block increases in the
national debt ceiling when sought by a Democrat president, most caved in when Ronald Reagan wanted it raised.