waltky
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Granny says its all dem politicians fault...
U.S. Debt Tops $14.2T; Treasury Down to $45.5B Cash
Thursday, April 07, 2011 - The legally limited portion of the national debt increased $18.22 billion on Tuesday, climbing from $14.1917 trillion ($14,191,736,000,000.00) to $14.2099 trillion ($14,209,963,000,000.00) by the close of business that day, according to the latest daily statement issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.
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Social Security Stopping Mailed Earning Statements
Thursday, April 07, 2011 Washington (AP) - Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out - here's what you'd get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 - will soon stop arriving in workers' mailboxes. It's an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency's website.
U.S. Debt Tops $14.2T; Treasury Down to $45.5B Cash
Thursday, April 07, 2011 - The legally limited portion of the national debt increased $18.22 billion on Tuesday, climbing from $14.1917 trillion ($14,191,736,000,000.00) to $14.2099 trillion ($14,209,963,000,000.00) by the close of business that day, according to the latest daily statement issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Under current law, the Treasury may not borrow more than $14.2940 trillion (14,294,000,000,000.00). Thus, as of Tuesday, the government had only $84 billion in borrowing authority left. Also as of the close of business on Tuesday, the Treasury had only $45.5 billion in cash on hand. Back on March 1, the Treasury issued a press release stating that it estimated "the United States will reach the debt limit between April 15, 2011 and May 31, 2011." Since then, the Treasury has not updated its estimate. April 15 is next Friday.
(Ordinarily, April 15 is also the deadline for Americans to file their federal tax returns. However, the IRS moved the deadline this year because the local government of the District of Columbia will be shutdown on April 15 for a holiday. “Taxpayers will have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Friday, April 15,” said the IRS. Technically, Emancipation Day is April 16, but that is a Saturday this year, so the District of Columbia will celebrate it by closing on Friday instead.)
Almost all of the federal government’s debt—99.5 percent of it, according to the Congressional Research Service--is subject to a limit legally set in a statute passed by Congress and signed by the President. Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, he and Congress have acted to increase the legal debt limit three times.
On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed a $787 billion economic stimulus law enacted by a Democratic-majority Congress that included a provision lifting the debt limit from $11.315 trillion to $12.104 trillion. On Dec. 28, 2009, Obama signed another law enacted by the Democratic Congress that lifted the debt limit to $12.394 trillion. Less than two months after that, on Feb. 12, 2010, President Obama signed yet another law enacted by the Democratic Congress that lifted the legal debt limit to the current $14.294 trillion.
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Social Security Stopping Mailed Earning Statements
Thursday, April 07, 2011 Washington (AP) - Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out - here's what you'd get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 - will soon stop arriving in workers' mailboxes. It's an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency's website.
The government is working to provide the statements online by the end of the year, if it can resolve security issues, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said. If that fails, the agency will resume the paper statements, which cost $70 million a year to mail, he said. "We'll provide it, we expect, one way or another, before the end of the calendar year," Astrue told The Associated Press. "We're just right now trying to figure out the most cost-effective and convenient way to provide that to the American public." The statements, mailed to 150 million people each year, project future benefit payments, helping workers plan for retirement.
The decision to suspend the mailings was unrelated to the talk of a possible partial government shutdown. It was, however, related to the agency's operating budget, which has essentially been frozen at 2010 levels - minus about $350 million in economic stimulus money the agency had been using to handle claims. Advocates for older Americans say they are sympathetic about the agency's budget problems, but several said an online option is insufficient, especially for people who may not have computer skills or access to computers. "As far as the information being available online, that's not going to help a lot of people we work with," said Max Richtman, executive vice president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
"This was a concrete piece of paper, a document that workers would receive that would give them confidence in the program," Richtman said. "Otherwise, they hear a lot of the debate in Washington. It's going to be there; it's not going to be there." Claims for retirement and disability benefits are up significantly since the nation's economy soured in 2008. About 2.7 million people applied for retirement benefits last year, a 17 percent increase from 2008, according to agency statistics. About 3.2 million people applied for disability benefits last year, a 23 percent increase.
Since the 1980s, Social Security statements have been mailed each year to workers older than 25. They include a history of taxable earnings for each year - so people can check for mistakes - as well as the total amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes paid over the lifetime of the worker. The statements provide estimates of monthly benefits, based on current earnings and when a worker plans to retire. Workers can claim early retirement benefits starting at age 62. Full benefits are available at age 66, a threshold that is gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later. The statements are mailed throughout the year, so many people have already received them this year. Tens of millions have not.
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