WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.
The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.
It’s hardly the debate Democrats want or need in the wake of Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown’s victory Tuesday in Massachusetts to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Arguing over the debt limit provides a forum for Republicans to blame Democrats for rising deficits and spiraling debt, even though responsibility for the government’s financial straits can be shared by both political parties.
The measure came to the floor under rules requiring 60 votes to pass. That’s an unprecedented step that could mean that every Democrat, no matter how politically endangered, may have to vote for it next week before Brown takes office and Democrats’ votes dip from 60 to 59.
Democratic leaders are also worried that Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who opposed the debt- limit increase approved last month, will vote against the measure.
The record increase in the so-called debt limit is required because the budget deficit has spiraled out of control in the wake of a recession that cut tax revenues, the Wall Street bailout, and increased spending by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Last year’s deficit hit $1.4 trillion. The current year’s shortfall t promises to be as high or even higher.
Congress has never failed to increase the borrowing limit.
What’s 1.9 trillion?
A 1.9 trillion-mile trip is about the same as 8 million trips to the moon. And 1.9 trillion feet would take you to the top of 29,000-foot Mount Everest 65 million times.
In dollars, it’s almost twice all the money America has spent in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. That amount would buy about 422 Nimitz Class aircraft carriers, which run about $4.5 billion apiece.
The world population is currently about 6.7 billion, so 1.9 trillion people would be enough to populate 284 worlds.
In terms of time, 1.9 trillion seconds adds up to about 60,000 years. The Associated Press
