it out over the debt ceiling. the debt ceiling is something that has to be raised every once in a while. it could be a catastrophic failure for the united states economy if we didn t raise it. the president just can t waltz in and say we re going to have a debt crisis if you don t raise the debt limit, congress, and we re not going to have any changes. this budget deal that was cut or the spending deal that was cut this week is only the beginning. this is first bite of the apple. today, the national debt is $14.28 trillion. the ceiling is $14.29 trillion. we have a debt crisis staring us in the face. that s what s got to get fixed. many americans are worried and frustrated about fixing the crisis with more borrowing. nbc s latest poll shows 62% don t want to raise the ceiling, even if it means the u.s. defaults on its loans. 32% say raise it. i can just tell you this, there will not be an increase in the debt limit without something really, really big attached to
morning market check, dow down almost 30 points, s&p 500 down 5. things are looking much rosier today because a deal was made. the big worry the debt ceiling, start messing with the debt ceiling, that could be a problem for wall street. about gas, those oil prices are still a threat and markets may feel that as well. exactly. carmen wong ullrich. congress and the congress preparing for a new bigger battle over the soaring national debt. president obama wants law makers to raise the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling. which we are going to hit next month. about the middle of may. republicans want something in return for doing that. the president will also announce his long-term plan for reducing the deficit on wednesday. a 6.6 magnitude earthquake has hit northern japan, comes on the one-month anniversary of the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. it s not clear yet if there s any new damage but the latest quake forced workers at the severely damaged nuclear plant in fukushima to e
colleagues on the senate side are. where are they on the question of how do we fund the government for the balance of the year? democrats are fighting over the g.o.p. short-term cut to this year s nondefense discretionary spending. less than a fifth of the government programs but without an a earntive. so far, neither side offered long-term approach to cut military budget or entitlements like medicare, medicaid or social security, which contribute most to the long-term debt. the administration now says the debt will reach the legal limit, $14.29 trillion that is ten zeros between april 15 and may 31. congress will have to raise the creeling to borrow more. in the meantime, republicans have established a new status quo on the hill. for the first time ever, real spending cuts are no longer the kind of idealistic and unattainable goal they have been for years. they re small for now. but they are actually happening. bret? bret: the next countdown begins. carl, thank you. the end of the
individual, and what should have been done for that person but the weapons don t kill people, it is the individual that kills these people. bret: this is obviously on the minds of all of the members of congress and as we heard the house is delaying its action on health care, but, there are a lot of legislative things to talk about, coming up, very soon. there has been a lot of 0 talk about the upcoming vote to raise the federal debt ceiling. as you can see, by this chart, congress has done it many times before. but, treasury secretary tim geithner said thursday that the country s current debt limit, you see it here, $14.29 trillion, could be reached as early as march 31. and the question to both of you: do you know specifically what will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised? in specifics, senator paul, first. well, i can t imagine voting to raise the debt ceiling unless we will change our ways in washington. so, i m proposing that we link to raising the debt ceiling, we link a
so put garbage in, it s garbage out. bill: right now our national debt is topping $14 trillion. and the fed chief, ben bernanke, is testifying before a senate committee, saying that there is more optimism on the economy, but that it will take years for the job market to recover to levels that we saw back in 2008. we ll watch that jamie. jamie: thanks bill. there are new warnings from the white house about what could happen if the u.s. does not raise the debt ceiling for us. treasury secretary timothy geithner warning lawmakers yesterday we are about $335 billion away from hitting that $14.29 trillion ceiling, bill, and that s essentially the u.s. credit limit if congress doesn t take action by the end of march. they say we could face catastrophe. nat mccall is with a private investment firm, david reniere is at the graduate school of management at george washington