Surprise! National Debt Soars in One-Day Record as Ceiling is Lifted

You knew this was coming:

The U.S. national debt shot up $339.1 billion Tuesday — the largest daily increase in the national debt in history, according to Treasury Department data.

The increase is largely a matter of accounting, in that the Treasury Department had using “extraordinary measures” to artificially hold the total U.S. debt under the debt limit imposed by Congress. So on paper, the national debt had been frozen at $18.1 trillion since March, as the Treasury instead deferred payments to pension funds and borrowed from reserve accounts in order to keep the government running.

But once President Obama signed a suspension of the debt limit into law on Monday, the Treasury Department was able to borrow new money for spending Congress had already authorized — averting a potential debt crisis as its accounting measures began to run out.

Love that reassuring “largely a matter of accounting” bit. So what happened yesterday?

The debt rose again by $40 billion Wednesday, the Treasury Department reported, and now stands at more than $18.5 trillion.

These people should all be jailed for their failed stewardship of the United States of America, but of course they won’t be. Instead, they’ll keep pulling down fat salaries and cushy pensions. Maybe it really is time to start over.