There is a lot of talk about the debt ceiling going on right now. Here is some information to help you understand the history of this topic.

Has the debt ceiling been raised before? Yes, lots of times. Every president except Harry S. Truman has raised the debt ceiling.

Here is the breakdown :

￭ Dwight D. Eisenhower (R): 4
￭ John F. Kennedy (D): 5
￭ Lyndon B. Johnson (D): 7
￭ Richard M. Nixon (R): 7
￭ Gerald R. Ford (R): 6
￭ Jimmy Carter (D): 6
￭ Ronald Reagan (R): 17
￭ George H. W. Bush (R): 5
￭ Bill Clinton (D): 4
￭ George W. Bush (R): 7

Is this always a battle? Yes. No party likes to cast a vote to raise the debt ceiling and the vote is always along party lines

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Keep in mind. This debate while focused on the debt ceiling is not really about the debt ceiling. It is about our credit rating and our deficit spending. Read this article for some help in understand and visualizing our deficit spending issues. The American dollar is one of the most reliable currencies in the world. U.S. treasury bonds are the most secure in the world. Our deficit spending is making other countries and rating agencies question the future of those bonds.

Will we default if we don’t raise the debt ceiling? No.

The President likes to throw around the word default a lot right now. The United States will not default! We have plenty of money coming in every month to pay our debts (over twice as much as we need). If we don’t pay, it is because the President decides not to pay, not because we don’t have the money. The real concern is that our credit rating is lowered. Our credit rating will be lowered because we cannot show an ability to get our debt under control. The following chart shows why credit rating agencies think we are out of control in our debt spending. It is hard to look at that chart and not agree. The rate at which we borrow and spend money is out of control right now.