The price tag for Congress suspending the debt ceiling until March, 2015 may give some Americans sticker shock.
According to an analysis by the Senate Budget Committee Republican staff, the national debt when the debt ceiling comes back into effect will be $18.2 trillion, about $1 trillion more than the current, $17.2 trillion debt.
That’s $18,200,000,000,000.
The analysis, requested by Breitbart News, is an estimate based on projected spending and revenue levels. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.
“This measure would increase America’s debt limit approximately $1 trillion while failing to reduce spending by a single penny. And the legislation takes no steps whatsoever to eliminate gimmicks that allow spending above our budget limits,” Sessions said in a statement.
After House Republicans failed to agree on a plan to include spending cuts and reforms in their debt ceiling bill, Speaker John Boehner brought a “clean” debt ceiling increase to the House floor yesterday, which passed with mostly Democrats and 28 Republicans.
The Senate just advanced its version of the legislation, voting to invoke cloture on the bill by a vote of 67-31. Along with mostly Democrats, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Whip John Cornyn voted for cloture.
The vote puts the bill on the fast-track to a signature from President Obama.
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