National Debt Tops $9 Trillion

Greenlee Gazette's editor is on vacation from Nov. 8 - Nov. 12. Posting will be lighter than usual, and commentary will be too. I'll still try to post some newsworthy items, but they'll likely be mostly excerpts and links. Stupid Monkey Planet will be filling in the gaps. Thanks!

And I thought my old debt record was bad. . .

[Excerpt]

National Debt at Record $9 Trillion

The national debt has hit $9 trillion for the first time.

The Treasury Department, which issues a daily accounting of the debt, said Wednesday that the debt subject to limit was at $9 trillion on Tuesday. It was $8.996 trillion on Monday.

Last month, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law an increase in the government's borrowing ceiling to $9.815 trillion. It was the fifth debt limit increase since Bush took office in January 2001. Those increases have totaled $3.865 trillion.

The administration contends the rising debt reflects such factors as slow economic growth during the 2001 recession, the Sept. 11 attacks and the cost of fighting terrorism.

Read the rest at: AP