How far are we under the debt ceiling? Can we afford to do this?

[MiniMe]

Democrats push back
House Speaker says lawmakers will demand taxpayer protection - Paulson calls for swift action.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/21/news/economy/bailout_proposal_Sunday/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill said on Sunday that the Bush administration's $700 billion proposal to bail out the financial system lacked necessary safeguards for taxpayers and homeowners

{snip}

"What we're doing is first stabilizing the market," Paulson said Sunday morning. "Once we stabilize the market, we need to ask ourselves how did we get here and how do we avoid getting here again."

"We need a lot of reforms, and this is going to be something Congress and the next administration are going to be working on for some time," Paulson added.

{snip}

The administration's proposal also requests that Congress authorize an increase to the nation's debt ceiling. Currently, it's set to rise to $10.6 trillion for fiscal year 2009 - which runs from October 2008 through September 2009. But the proposal requests that limit be increased to $11.315 trillion to allow for the purchases of mortgage-backed assets.

The debt limit is a ceiling on how much debt the federal government is allowed to take on. Budget experts say it acts as a break on spending mostly because of political pressure, because lawmakers don't like to vote to raise it. Lawmakers are free to change it if they have reason, however.

Paulson on Sunday acknowledged that the plan involves considerable risk for taxpayers, but said that the Treasury should recoup at least some of what it will spend on this bailout.

"We're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars, but remember this is not an expenditure, this is money that is being used to purchase illiquid mortgage assets that are very difficult to value," Paulson said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"They will be held and they will be resold at some time. And so we can't determine what the cost is today," Paulson said. "That's going to be based on how quickly the economy recovers, what happens in the mortgage market."

[Lerkfish]

1. no, the real question is "how can we afford THIS and let people die in NOLA?"

or
"How can we afford to create welfare for CEOs but not fund healthcare for indigent children?"

[ixion]

2. NO, WE CANNOT

so can we stop talking about it like we're going to do it?

[MiniMe]

3. No. Unfortunately because they are going to do it anyway.

[stray cat]

4. How many employers will not be able to meet payroll and pay their employees?

I don't know how my company does payroll but from the sounds of it I if we don't do something I will not get paid. I wonder how many people with jobs will not be able to be paid?