“The trend in our projected net resources has continued to be negative,” warns Treasury Secretary Lew forcing the administration to move up the deadline for the end of extraordinary measures from Nov 5th to Nov 3rd.
Ironically, Lew explains..
But operating beyond your means (i.e. borrowing to be able to afford everything) is fine?
As Bloomberg reports,
Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew moved up by two days to Nov. 3 the deadline by which Congress must raise the nation’s debt limit.
The Treasury projections of the administration’s net resources have fallen $4 billion to $6 billion short of expectations, forcing the department to move up the date from Nov. 5, Lew said in a letter Thursday to House Speaker John Boehner. After the new deadline, the Treasury will have less than $30 billion to fund the government, “far short” of expenses on certain days, Lew said.
“The trend in our projected net resources has continued to be negative,” Lew said. “I respectfully urge Congress to take action as soon as possible, raise the debt limit without delay, and remove an unnecessary threat to our economy.”
The Treasury is using extraordinary measures to stay under the borrowing limit.Government expenditures are as high as $60 billion depending on the day, he said.
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From Lew’s letter to Boehner
“Operating the United States government with no borrowing authority, and with only the cash on hand on a given day, would be profoundly irresponsible. As I wrote previously, we anticipate that a remaining cash balance of less than $30 billion would be depleted quickly,”
…
“We have learned from the past that failing to act until the last minute can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,”
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