But according to Obama, raising the debt ceiling just “pays for the bills” and doesn’t raise the debt by encouraging new spending.
Right after the GOP in Congress caved to Obama’s demands for a hike in the debt ceiling, $328 billion was added to the debt, bringing it to a total of $17.075 trillion for the first time in history.
U.S. debt jumped a record $328 billion on Thursday, the first day the federal government was able to borrow money under the deal President Obama and Congress sealed this week.
The debt now equals $17.075 trillion, according to figures the Treasury Department posted online on Friday.
The $328 billion increase shattered the previous high of $238 billion set two years ago.
The giant jump comes because the government was replenishing its stock of “extraordinary measures” — the federal funds it borrowed from over the last five months as it tried to avoid bumping into the debt ceiling.
Under the law, that replenishing happens as soon as there is new debt space.
“Replenishing’ is a term used for the make-up borrowing and spending they couldn’t do during the “shutdown”. Congress set a deadline instead of a dollar cap. That means Obama has a blank check until 7 February. Considering all he’s done to increase the debt by $7 trillion since he first took office, it’ll be quite a spree.
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