Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Obama Raises Debt Ceiling

   VOA News 13 February 2010
   President  Barack  Obama  meets  with  reporters  during  daily  press
   briefing at the White House, 9 Feb. 2010

Photo: AP

   US President Barack Obama (file photo)

   U.S.  President Barack Obama has signed a law that will allow the U.S.
   to borrow nearly $2 trillion more than before.
   The  president  signed  the  bill Friday night at the White House with
   little public fanfare.
   The  maximum  debt  the U.S. can carry is now $14.3 trillion. The U.S.
   was already poised to exceed the previous maximum.
   The  change  comes  at a time when the American public is increasingly
   concerned about the government deficits.
   In   an   attempt   calm   those  fears,  the  bill  also  included  a
   "pay-as-you-go" provision.  Originally enacted in the 1990s under then
   President  Bill  Clinton, the law requires any new spending or tax cut
   to be offset by tax increases or spending cuts elsewhere.
   In  his  weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Mr. Obama praised
   the  "pay-as-you-go"  law,  saying it was how a "responsible family or
   business" manages money.
   Mr.  Obama  used his address to blame the current debt and deficits on
   the  previous  administration of U.S. president George W. Bush and the
   U.S.  congress  during  his tenure.   He said they ignored the "common
   sense  rule"  of  pay-as-you-go and passed tax cuts and created a drug
   program without paying for it.


   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

.