re: #121 compound_Idaho

The Department of the Treasury definition of the “Debt Ceiling”:

The debt limit is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments. The debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. It simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past.

It has nothing to do with the upcoming budget or future spending. It’s 100% about money already allocated and obligated by law to be spent. If you think we spend too much, the debate on the actual budget is where you argue this, not the woefully badly named “debt limit”.