Federal Debt | featured news

The battle over whether tax increases can be used to cut the nation's debt flared Tuesday as the Senate's Democratic budget writer floated a possible millionaire's surtax to help cut projected deficits over the next decade. But Republican leaders flatly said no to tax increases....

With high gas prices and federal deficits in the political spotlight, senior Democrats believe that Senate Republicans will support an idea they otherwise might not like.

The Treasury has told lawmakers a roughly $2 trillion increase in the legal limit on U.S. federal debt was needed to ensure the government can keep borrowing through the 2012 presidential election, sources with knowledge of the discussions said.

It looks like the media is about to have some more fun with Vice President Joe Biden. It appears Biden nodded off during part of President Obama's debt reduction speech today, and had the misfortune of being caught on camera ...

President Barack Obama, two years into a presidency that increased spending to prime a weak economy, is turning his attention to the nation's crushing debt and trying to counter a Republican anti-deficit plan with a framework of his own that tackles politically sensitive health care programs while also increasing taxes....

The White House on Monday urged Republicans not to tie an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to spending cuts and admitted that President Barack Obama's own vote against an increase in 2006 was a "mistake".

President Obama will address the economy and the federal debt in his State of the Union speech, which will be his opportunity to showcase his shift to the political center. President Obama plans to use his State of the Union speech Tuesday to articulate a centrist vision that will shape the remaining two years of his term and provide a template for his reelection campaign.

The United States just passed a dubious milestone: Government debt surged to an all-time high, more than $14 trillion....

President Barack Obama is getting a bump in his approval ratings from an improving U.S. economy but Americans want him to focus on reducing U.S. debt and spending, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday.

The United States could hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow as soon as March 31 and faces serious consequences unless Congress acts by then to raise it, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.