Debt Has Bipartisan Support

There’s one thing Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree on these days: When it comes to raising hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out banks or stimulate the economy, better to go further into debt than cut costs or raise taxes.

But even groups such as the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget agree that might not be such a bad idea.

Here’s hoping China doesn’t ask for its money back.

New York Times:

“Right now would not be the time to balance the budget,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan Washington group that normally pushes the opposite message.

Confronted with a hugely expensive economic crisis, Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have elected to pay the bill mainly by borrowing money rather than cutting spending or raising taxes. But while the borrowing is relatively inexpensive for the government in a weak economy, the cost will become a bigger burden as growth returns and interest rates rise.

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The owners of the national debt clock in Manhattan are planning to refurbish the digital billboard to add a couple of digits.