U.S. Spends 60 Percent Of Debt-Ceiling Increase In One Day

Hours after Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling, the national debt rose enough to consume 60 percent of $400 billion allowed.

According to the Washington Times, spending shot up $239 billion on Tuesday, the largest one-day increase in American history.

Other debt news includes this heartening tidbit: Thanks to the big jump, the national debt may well exceed the gross domestic product.

What Happened

After Congress and President plunged the nation further into fiscal chaos by raising the debt ceiling, the government began a one-day spending binge.

Reports the Times: "[t]he debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday, according to the latest the Treasury Department figures, which are released on the next business day."

That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.

A piddling $400 billion, the increase in the debt ceiling is hardly enough to satisfy the appetite of the big spenders in Washington, D.C. Congress spent nearly $240 billion, a whopping 60 percent in a matter of hours. That figure eclipsed the previous record, the Times reported. On June 30, 2009, Congress helped Obama flush $186 billion down the toilet.

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