The bill comes due

Even downward revision can't prepare the street for disappointing GDP numbers:

Buffeted by rising energy prices and weakened consumer and business spending, the economy grew at an annual rate of just 3.1 percent in the first quarter. The slowest pace of expansion since in two years was evidence of a new “soft patch.”

The latest reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department Thursday, showed that consumers and businesses turned cautious in their spending, a key factor in the slower economic growth. High energy prices and rising borrowing costs are causing Americans to tighten their belts a bit.

The first-quarter GDP figure, down from a 3.8 percent pace logged in the final quarter of 2004, represents the economy’s most sluggish showing since the first quarter of 2003, when economic activity expanded at an even more mediocre 1.9 percent rate.

One of the things driving the economy has been the average American's willingness to borrow money. Combine rising interest rates with slower income growth, and you could see some real problems coming in the future.