Bigger debt, worse timing

AP:

Republicans in the Senate face a difficult but necessary vote in coming weeks to allow the Treasury borrow to pad the $8.2 trillion national debt by another $781 billion.

The need to increase the legal limit on the debt has Democrats eager to use the debate to blast President Bush and his GOP allies in Congress for their fiscal stewardship.

"During this administration, America's debt, that is, the total of the deficits has increased by $3 trillion," said Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, top Democrat on the Finance Committee. "That's a 40 percent increase in the entire federal debt accrued by our country in its entire history."

Treasury officials briefed Senate staff aides Thursday and told them that without an increase in the government's ability to borrow, it would default on obligations for the first time in history sometime during the week of March 20.