17
December
U.S. National Debt Tops Debt Limit
17 December 2009 CBS News
The latest calculation of the National Debt as posted by the Treasury Department has - at least numerically - exceeded the statutory Debt Limit approved by Congress last February as part of the Recovery Act stimulus bill. The ceiling was set at $12.104 trillion dollars. The latest posting by Treasury shows the National Debt at nearly $12.135 trillion. A senior Treasury official told CBS News that the department has some "extraordinary accounting tools" it can use to give the government breathing room in the range of $150-billion when the Debt exceeds the Debt Ceiling.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5987341.shtml
