Debt Ceiling

The debt ceiling – the limit the Congress puts on the national debt - has grown to alarming levels in recent years. Today’s national debt – at $14.3 trillion - threatens to cripple the economy if it is not brought under control. Congress must urgently pursue the path that drives down federal spending and borrowing and gets to a balanced budget without raising taxes, while preserving our ability to protect America.

HIGHLIGHTS

Our Research & Offerings on Debt Ceiling
  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Backgrounder on February 28, 2012 President Obama’s 2013 Budget Delivers Tax Hikes, More Spending, More Debt

    Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…

  • WebMemo posted February 9, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen President Obama’s Budget: What to Watch For

    The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal…

  • WebMemo posted February 8, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen FY 2012 Spending Blows Through Cap, CBO Shows

    As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable…

  • WebMemo posted December 8, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Chairman Ryan’s Proposals for Fixing the Budget Process

    To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not…

  • WebMemo posted December 6, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Appropriations Endgame: One Last Shot at Fiscal Credibility

    With the collapse of the deficit reduction “super committee,” a year that began with promise is degenerating into another late-December budgetary scramble on Capitol Hill. Along with certain necessary decisions by Congress on tax policies, unemployment insurance, and the “doc fix,” nine of the 12 annual spending bills are still…

  • Backgrounder posted December 5, 2011 by Mackenzie Eaglen, Diem Nguyen Super Committee Failure and Sequestration Put at Risk Ever More Military Plans and Programs

    Abstract: The Budget Control Act, which ended the impasse over the debt ceiling and created a Super Committee to identify more deficit reduction proposals, cuts the defense budget by $1 trillion and paves the way for further reductions next year. These cuts come on top of successive rounds of deep…

  • White Paper posted November 1, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen, Emily Goff Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012

    Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the…

  • Shutdown Delayed Audio Recorded on September 28, 2011 Shutdown Delayed

    From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. …

  • WebMemo posted August 6, 2011 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. U.S. Credit Rating Downgraded: Now They’ve Done It

    Late on Friday, August 5, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the United States credit rating from AAA, and really best in class, to AA+. In one fell swoop, S&P sent two separate and powerful messages. First, as The Heritage Foundation and many others warned, the spending reductions in the deal…

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  • Backgrounder on February 28, 2012 President Obama’s 2013 Budget Delivers Tax Hikes, More Spending, More Debt

    Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…

  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Backgrounder posted July 14, 2011 by Ernest Istook Considering a Balanced Budget Amendment: Lessons from History

    Abstract: Attempts at passing a balanced budget amendment (BBA) date back to the 1930s, and all have been unsuccessful. Both parties carry some of the blame: The GOP too often has been neglectful of the issue, and the Democratic Left, recognizing a threat to…

  • WebMemo posted December 6, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Appropriations Endgame: One Last Shot at Fiscal Credibility

    With the collapse of the deficit reduction “super committee,” a year that began with promise is degenerating into another late-December budgetary scramble on Capitol Hill. Along with certain necessary decisions by Congress on tax policies, unemployment insurance, and the “doc fix,” nine of the 12 annual spending bills are still…

  • WebMemo posted February 8, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen FY 2012 Spending Blows Through Cap, CBO Shows

    As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable…

  • White Paper posted November 1, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen, Emily Goff Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012

    Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the…

  • WebMemo posted August 1, 2011 by Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. A Dangerous Debt Ceiling Deal

    The deep cuts in defense spending envisioned in the just-announced debt ceiling deal[1] raise a fundamental question for Americans: Will we let a deal stand that promises to end American security as we know it? Or will Americans demand that the deal, born of crisis-driven politics in…

  • WebMemo posted December 8, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Chairman Ryan’s Proposals for Fixing the Budget Process

    To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not…

  • Report on May 25, 2011 You Can Borrow, But You Can’t Hide: The Prudential Limits of the Borrowing Clause

    So important is the power to borrow money that it was one of the few real powers expressly delegated to the weak and ineffectual government created under the Articles of Confederation. In drafting the Constitution, the Framers recognized the importance of empowering the government…

  • WebMemo posted August 6, 2011 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. U.S. Credit Rating Downgraded: Now They’ve Done It

    Late on Friday, August 5, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the United States credit rating from AAA, and really best in class, to AA+. In one fell swoop, S&P sent two separate and powerful messages. First, as The Heritage Foundation and many others warned, the spending reductions in the deal…

Find more work on Debt Ceiling
  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Backgrounder on February 28, 2012 President Obama’s 2013 Budget Delivers Tax Hikes, More Spending, More Debt

    Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…

  • WebMemo posted February 9, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen President Obama’s Budget: What to Watch For

    The President’s post-debt-ceiling, election-year budget will provide a good test of whether he is serious about facing up to the country’s looming fiscal crisis and driving spending down. At this critical moment for the nation’s fiscal and economic health, he should seize the opportunity to change the course of fiscal…

  • WebMemo posted February 8, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen FY 2012 Spending Blows Through Cap, CBO Shows

    As House appropriators begin hearings on fiscal year (FY) 2013 spending,[1] a second look at last week’s Congressional Budget Office report shows they already have exceeded their official Budget Control Act limits for the current year by a stunning $156 billion. Although some of this overrun reflects justifiable…

  • WebMemo posted December 8, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Chairman Ryan’s Proposals for Fixing the Budget Process

    To say “the budget process is broken,” as many Members of Congress like to complain, is a little misleading. The regular order of the budget process has not been employed for the past several years[1]—and mostly because of Congress’s inability or unwillingness to use it. But if not…

  • WebMemo posted December 6, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Appropriations Endgame: One Last Shot at Fiscal Credibility

    With the collapse of the deficit reduction “super committee,” a year that began with promise is degenerating into another late-December budgetary scramble on Capitol Hill. Along with certain necessary decisions by Congress on tax policies, unemployment insurance, and the “doc fix,” nine of the 12 annual spending bills are still…

  • Backgrounder posted December 5, 2011 by Mackenzie Eaglen, Diem Nguyen Super Committee Failure and Sequestration Put at Risk Ever More Military Plans and Programs

    Abstract: The Budget Control Act, which ended the impasse over the debt ceiling and created a Super Committee to identify more deficit reduction proposals, cuts the defense budget by $1 trillion and paves the way for further reductions next year. These cuts come on top of successive rounds of deep…

  • White Paper posted November 1, 2011 by Patrick Louis Knudsen, Emily Goff Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012

    Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the…

  • WebMemo posted August 6, 2011 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. U.S. Credit Rating Downgraded: Now They’ve Done It

    Late on Friday, August 5, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the United States credit rating from AAA, and really best in class, to AA+. In one fell swoop, S&P sent two separate and powerful messages. First, as The Heritage Foundation and many others warned, the spending reductions in the deal…

  • WebMemo posted August 1, 2011 by Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. A Dangerous Debt Ceiling Deal

    The deep cuts in defense spending envisioned in the just-announced debt ceiling deal[1] raise a fundamental question for Americans: Will we let a deal stand that promises to end American security as we know it? Or will Americans demand that the deal, born of crisis-driven politics in…

View All
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