The "Des Moines Register" is in Iowa. The people are not happy about this political agenda of the Republicans. The people elect representatives believing they have an input to the decisions made in the US Senate.
By Hans Isikson
Every few years (click here) it seems that another argument erupts over raising the national debt ceiling. So, let’s explore this oft-misunderstood macroeconomic metric. According to the Treasury Department, the "Debt Limit" (or ceiling) “is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.”
These “existing legal obligations” were incurred during past administrations of both parties. They were duly enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president at the time. But authorizing an increase in the debt ceiling does not give a green light to whichever political party is in charge to spend taxpayers’ money on whatever their new pet projects happen to be....
