Debt Ceiling - When is 8.2 Trillion not enough?

[richlevy]

Well, it's official. The current administration, between tax cuts and spending, is about to blow the budget.

Bloomberg's take on this.

The Inquirer's article.

Treasury officials said in briefing congressional aides last week that the government would run out of maneuvering room to keep from exceeding the limit sometime during the week of March 20. Snow told lawmakers that the Treasury Department would begin tapping the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, which Treasury officials said would provide a "few billion" dollars in extra borrowing ability.

Treasury officials also announced that on Friday they had used the $15 billion in the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a reserve that is normally used to smooth out dollar volatility in currency markets.

The Treasury also has been taking investments out of a $65.3 billion government pension fund known as the G-fund.

Officials have said that once the debt limit was raised, the investments taken out of the pension funds would be replaced and any lost interest payments would be made up. The formal title for the G-fund is the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Note that the debt does not even account for some Iraq wars costs and special spending items that are being kept off of the books.