$1,728,477,000,000: Fed's Holdings of U.S. Debt Hit Another Record:
The total debt of the federal government was $16,524,304,599,079.04. That included $11,668,602,027,147.93 in debt held by the public and $4,855,702,571,931.11 in intragovernmental debt, which is money the Treasury has taken out of government trust funds-such as the Social Security Trust Fund-and spent on other government programs. Ref. Source 9
94 percent of Americans don't know the deficit is falling.: There is no deficit problem.
The deficit is down 50 percent as a share of gross domestic product just since President Bush's fiscal year 2009 deficit and is falling at the fastest rate since the end of World War II. Yet the Washington debate is about how and where to cut us back into recession. Why? Ref. Source 1
Personal income growth plunged 3.6% in January, the biggest one-month drop since January 1993, the Commerce Department said Friday. The drop was offset by a hefty 2.6% rise in December. Ref. USAToday
President Obama says "Dumb, arbitrary" forced spending cuts that take effect today are unnecessary and inexcusable. "Let's be clear. None of this is necessary. It's happening because of a choice that Republicans in Congress have made," he said.
The president and Vice President Biden met with leaders of the House and Senate to discuss the cuts earlier in the day.
The cuts of $85 billion kick in today and are expected to lead to long lines at airports, furloughs of federal workers, reduced access to Head Start programs for young students, and scaled back food inspection and border security programs.
Insiders expect the cuts to be about 9% for nondefense programs and 13% for defense accounts. Ref. CNN
President Barack Obama signed an order triggering mandatory, government-wide spending cuts.
The cuts were included in a 2011 deal to raise the federal borrowing limit as an undesirable outcome if Congress failed to agree on a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan.
They amount to roughly 9% for a broad range of nondefense programs and 13% for the Pentagon over the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The full impact of the cuts isn't expected until April at the earliest. Ref. CNN
The Senate approved legislation that would fund the government through the end of September and avoid a partial federal shutdown, as well as soften the blow of sweeping spending cuts.
The measure, which passed in a 73-26 vote, now advances to the House of Representatives.
Failure to enact the measure before March 27 would result in a partial shutdown of federal agencies and other programs. Ref. CNN
The GOP-controlled House also narrowly approved a conservative budget plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, 221-207, on a largely party-line vote. Ref. USAToday
The Senate has narrowly passed its first budget proposal in four years as majority Democrats went on record favoring almost $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade while sheltering domestic programs targeted by House Republicans. Ref. USAToday