U.S. May Default On Debt Earlier Than Expected

Deadline to raise the debt limit is the next fiscal battleground in Washington.

The U.S. government may default on its debt as soon as Feb 15, half a month earlier than expected, according to a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Although Republicans are planning to use the circumstance to demand federal spending cuts, President Barack Obama has said he “will not compromise” or negotiate Congress’s responsibility.

“Nobody forced Congress to rack up the bills that it incurred,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday. “And it is an abdication of responsibility to say that we’re going to let the country default and cause global economic calamity simply because we’re not getting what we want in terms of our ideological agenda.”

The government reached the 16.4 trillion statutory debt limit on Dec 31 and was expected to forestall default for the first two months of the year. (Washington Post)

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