US borrowing authority to be exhausted by Oct. 17

[Zimbow]

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Wednesday the government will have exhausted its borrowing authority by Oct. 17, leaving the United States just $30 billion cash on hand to pay its bills.
That's a slightly worse financial position than Treasury predicted last month and adds to the pressure on Congress to increase the government's borrowing cap soon to avert a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations.
In a letter to top congressional leaders, Lew warned that a repeat of the debt brinksmanship of 2011 could inflict great harm on the economy and that "if the government should ultimately become unable to pay all of its bills, the results could be catastrophic."

The government reached its $16.7 trillion debt limit in May. Since then, it has been using "extraordinary measures" such as suspending U.S. investments in federal employee trust funds to create about $300 billion in additional borrowing room.
But on the 17th the government will be left with only its cash cushion and daily receipts to pay its bills. Lew warned that before long it would not be able to meet all of its obligations. Economists and financial market experts warn that the stock market could plummet and that investors would demand higher returns on Treasury notes, which could raise interest rates and harm the economy.

Read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/us-borrowing-a...--finance.html

[ajbrinn]

America needs to go bankrupt and allow its economy to collapse and it needs to do so in order for the people to open their eyes to the reality of their current situation. America will then have the choice to either restructure, reform and rebuild or cease to exist as a whole. All great nations collapse eventually, maybe Americas time has come.

[centrehice]

If you did not manufacture fear, deal it wholesale to the media, then sell it retail, the public would not buy it. Close your drunken European and World Military bases that are staffed with Non-Combatant, No-Hopers.

Trim the fat from your Military Budget by 15% and it will pay for everything and finally get you out of hawk. Make the US Military an actual place for honest, intelligent career minded people, instead of trashy dopes looking for cheap beer and a hiding place.

[Wickabee]

Well when so many have the choice of college or military one is going to get the smarter overall group.

[centrehice]

You are assuming that people have graduated High School.

[Wickabee]

...

that just adds to my argument.

[ajbrinn]

unless your into something needing a degree (ie lawyer/doctor/ect.) then school is a waste, in the end you get a nice pretty piece of paper that basically says you started and completed something. I would rather hire someone who can prove to me a good honorable work ethic and can actually get things done over someone who sat stagnating in a classroom for however many years.

[centrehice]

No, it adds to the disconnect and the mindset. The US Military has always been the default mechanism for many people that are not ambitious, take that away and you would actually instill some ownership and ambition.

Providing easy money for those that know they can achieve it simply is not good foundation to build on.

Look at Canada. We stopped the no-hopers from an easy Military ride in about 1990. We closed recruiting offices, we closed bases. We chose the best, among the best for the Military. We made a conscious decision to do so, and now those citizens that were looking for an easy ride have had to integrate themselves into society. The rather low unemployment in the country shows that this is possible.

[shrewsbury]

college after high school provides many things besides a degree. for most it will be the first time they live without their parents. you are left to make easy but crucial decisions on your own. it buys you time to mature and to think about where you want to be in the short, mid, and long term.

[Wickabee]

College is about making connections. The degree is worth the paper it's written on but those connections will get you through life.