House Joint Resolution 45 - the PAYGO Act
Currently the debt ceiling is $12 trillion. So this is $2 trillion more. Consider that the average round trip flight to Brisbane, Australia from New York City is $1275. (Brisbane is a beautiful vacation spot along Australia's Gold Coast.) And say you wanted to stay at a nice hotel there. The Brisbane Hilton is $225 a night. (That's in Aussie dollars, of course.) And figure we might want to spend about $200 a day for meals, sightseeing trips and gifts for friends back home. That totals $4250 for the whole trip. $2 trillion will give us enough for 475 million trips. That is enough for every man, woman and child in this country to take a nice week long vacation. And then some. Maybe even enough to get all those Americans from whatever city they live in or near to New York in the first place. Maybe we can spring for a Broadway show to boot.
So raising that debt ceiling another $2 trillion isn't something to sneeze at. Or take lightly. Which by the way, passed the House a mere 217-212. (Note, no Republicans voted for it.)
But did Congress take it lightly? Well, let us look at the second vote they had that day.
The second measure they voted on was PAYGO, and it passed 233-187. (Again, no Republican votes.) It would be interesting to note at this point that 24 Democrats voted for PAYGO but not for the increase in the debt ceiling. Political maneuvering in anticipation of a tough mid-term election season? Perhaps, since they can then go back to their constituents and say they voted against raising the debt ceiling.
So, PAYGO. What is it? TeachMeFinance.com tells us it is "
Published by Charles B Reynolds
Published author, political junkie, and lover of the written word. Writing workshop and seminar instructor. Journalist at Examiner.com and Imperfect Parent.com. Blogger of the internationally read “Thinkin... View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentWho says Congress needs Republicans to do anything these days?
Debt/schmet.... we're already living so far beyond our means (as a species) that the downward fall in both inevitable and necessary.
Sorry, folks. Previous article truncated. For full article go here. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2689079/the_paygo_act.html?cat=3