https://www.fms.treas.gov/fmsweb/viewDTSFiles?dir=w&fname=12112000.txt
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/Boehner-Obamacare-on-table-for-fiscal-cliff-talks/-/1637100/17513308/-/format/rss_2.0/-/aigsr7z/-/index.html
http://www.acting-man.com/?p=20683
http://www.acting-man.com/?p=20688
TABLE III-C Debt Subject to Limit
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Opening balance
Closing ______________________________________
Balance Transactions balance This This
today Today month fiscal
year
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Debt Held by the Public $ 11,452,927 $ 11,451,717 $ 11,411,598 $ 11,269,586
Intragovernmental Holdings 4,839,763 4,834,393 4,849,872 4,796,656
Total Public Debt
Outstanding 16,292,689 16,286,110 16,261,471 16,066,241
Less: Debt Not
Subject to Limit:
Other Debt 486 486 486 486
Unamortized Discount 31,052 31,065 31,144 31,130
Federal Financing Bank 7,112 7,112 7,112 7,112
Hope Bonds 494 494 494 493
Plus: Other Debt Subject to Limit
Guaranteed Debt of
Government Agencies 0 0 0 0
Total Public Debt
Subject to Limit $ 16,253,547 $ 16,246,955 $ 16,222,235 $ 16,027,021
Statutory Debt Limit $ 16,394,000 $ 16,394,000 $ 16,394,000 $ 16,394,000
Act of 8/2/11, operated to permanently increase the statutory debt limit to $16,394
billion after 1/27/12.
Unamortized Discount represents the discount adjustment on Treasury bills and zero-coupon
bonds (amortization is calculated daily).
and......
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84116.html
Rough start for fiscal cliff talks
The opening round of negotiations this week between White House and senior GOP congressional staffers left both sides pessimistic about their ability to reach a quick deal on averting the fiscal cliff, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Hill Democrats say Republicans aren’t serious about crafting a deal that President Barack Obama can accept. The GOP’s opening offer, the sources said, would freeze the Bush-era tax rates, change the inflation calculator for entitlement programs, keep the estate tax at 2012 levels and authorize a major overhaul of the Tax Code — although they did not provide a revenue target.
The behind-the-scenes clash in negotiations stands in contrast to the more conciliatory rhetoric both sides have used in public statements, casting doubt on the coming four weeks of talks before Christmas.
In addition to wanting to keep the Bush tax rates, Republicans also want to postpone the sequester, or tens of billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts for the Pentagon and domestic programs set to kick in on Jan. 2.
For their part, Republicans remain unconvinced that Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will make the kind of significant concessions on entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid that would make them agree to tax rate hikes.
The rhetoric from senior lawmakers after the Friday meeting at the White House was upbeat, leaving Washington watchers thinking that a deal was possible. But when they got into the nitty-gritty of the details, it’s clear that this will be a tougher slog than many had hoped.
The GOP proposal was, in essence, an opening bid, so it’s not surprising that their proposal stuck close to well-known — and well-publicized — Republican positions on taxes and spending. But the absence of any significant concessions left Democrats disappointed, the sources said, because Republicans haven’t gone much beyond the failed “grand bargain” talks between Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in mid-2011, despite an election victory that gave far more leverage to the president and his party.
The top negotiators have met just once since the election, and Boehner, Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) described the White House session last week as constructive — causing the stock market to surge. But few observers of the fiscal talks over the past two years expected the good feelings to last once both sides got down to hard bargaining.
The staff-level sessions on Monday and Tuesday were described by several sources with knowledge of the discussions. Neither party was willing go on the record given the sensitivity of the talks. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said his office “will not have any comment on any rumors like this.” A White House spokeswoman and a Senate Democratic leadership spokesman also declined to discuss the negotiations.
These early staff meetings are aimed at building the foundation for negotiations that will eventually be handed off to the main principals. Obama, back in Washington on Wednesday following a post-election trip to Asia, is expected to call the leaders back to the White House next week.
The participants in the staff meetings this week showed where the power centers are in the negotiation — Rob Nabors, the White House’s chief legislative liaison, has been huddling with Boehner’s top aides. Missing were representatives for Reid, Pelosi and McConnell.
The two sides remain far apart, at the moment, on taxes. Democrats say that they want to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class, but allow tax rates for the wealthiest Americans to increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, the same level in place during the Clinton administration.
The Republican position is to extend current tax rates for all earners — an unacceptable position for Obama and congressional Democrats. Boehner, though, has said he’s willing to increase governmental revenue and rewrite the tax code without an increase in marginal tax rates.
The critical question is how far Republicans come Democrats’ way on revenue, and how far Democrats are willing to move toward the GOP on entitlements.
Another major concern is the alternative minimum tax. Unless Congress acts quickly, as many as 26 million middle-class taxpayers could be hit with the AMT after Jan. 1, although it was originally designed to make sure the wealthy are not able to avoid income taxes.
But taxes are not the only thing being lumped into discussions on the so-called fiscal cliff. Unemployment benefits expire, as does the payroll tax holiday and the reimbursement rate for doctors who treat Medicare patients. Automatic cuts to the Pentagon and other domestic programs take hold at the beginning of 2013. Republicans want to delay the first year of automatic cuts.
Then there’s the debt ceiling, which is increasingly creeping into the year-end discussion. The nation’s borrowing limit needs to be raised in the first quarter of 2013, according to the Treasury Department. Obama would like to see the debt limit boosted as part of an overall budget deal, say Hill insiders, but Boehner is unwilling to give ground on that issue if he feels Democrats are not really serious about negotiating a compromise.
and .....
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/Boehner-Obamacare-on-table-for-fiscal-cliff-talks/-/1637100/17513308/-/format/rss_2.0/-/aigsr7z/-/index.html
Boehner: Obamacare on table for 'fiscal cliff' talks
President, Congressional leaders search for common ground to tame national debt
Published On: Nov 21 2012 02:45:35 PM EST Updated On: Nov 21 2012 06:17:09 PM EST
As congressional leaders and President Barack Obama search for common ground to tame the national debt as the weeks dwindle down to end of the year, House Speaker John Boehner said the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, must be included in deficit negotiations.
"We can't afford it, and we can't afford to leave it intact," Boehner wrote of Obama's signature healthcare initiative in the Cincinnati Enquirer. "That's why I've been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation's massive debt challenge."
Though Republicans have continually pushed for a full repeal of the law, Obama's re-election marked the next step in its implementation. Each state is required to decide whether to set up its own health care exchange - where individuals and small businesses can purchase affordable health care, subsidizing insurance for low-income consumers - or choose to have the federal government manage the state's exchange.
In the editorial Boehner lauded Ohio Governor John Kasich's decision Friday refusing to set up a state-run exchange, the result being the federal government management of the state's health care exchange.
As states decide how to comply with the law, leaders from both parties are in the midst of contentious dealings on how to reduce the nation's debt and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff - a series of federal spending cuts and tax rates increases set to go into place at the beginning of next year if Washington lawmakers fail to reach a compromise. At the crux of deficit negotiations is revenue. Republicans want to generate revenue by closing loopholes and tax deductions while Democrats have favored raising tax rates on wealthier Americans.
Since former Republican nominee Mitt Romney's defeat and the Supreme Court upheld most of the health care initiative, Boehner said the GOP's "tactics" must change in their effort to repeal Obamacare. Boehner underscored the law's expense and pushed a dismantling of the law through congressional oversight.
"With President Obama and his party still in control of most of Washington, stopping Obamacare will require both bold state leadership and vigorous oversight by members of the House of Representatives," he wrote.
Shortly after the election, however, Boehner told ABC he would not make repealing the law his mission saying Obamacare was the "law of the land." Boehner later walked back the comment tweeting the GOP's goal remains a full repeal of the law.
and from The Hill blogspot......
Congress prepares for bailout of flood insurance program amid Sandy claims
- 11/22/12 06:00 AM ET
Hurricane Sandy-related claims are pouring into the troubled government-run National Flood Insurance Program — and Congress is girding for revived battles over the program’s debts.
The NFIP, America’s only provider of flood insurance, faces an estimated $6 billion to $12 billion in new claims from Sandy, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The NFIP, which is about $18 billion in debt after Hurricane Katrina, has only $2.9 billion left in borrowing authority, Edward Connor, FEMA's deputy associate administrator for federal insurance told a meeting last week, according to news reports.
FEMA has not yet requested new borrowing authority and sources say that once the request is made, Congress could act in the lame-duck.
An administration official said the White House Office of Management and Budget is working closely with FEMA to monitor cash balances for NFIP and pending claims. If additional borrowing authority is required to keep the program solvent, the administration plans to work with Congress to ensure appropriate actions are taken, the official said.
As of November 20, NFIP has $740 million in cash available to pay claims and approximately $3 billion in unused borrowing authority. To date, FEMA has processed 131,191 Sandy-related claims and paid $142 million.
To speed passage of legislation in Congress, sources said the NFIP debt limit would likely be tacked onto a deal aimed at averting the “fiscal cliff” of $600 billion in tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are looming in January.
Some conservatives in Congress believe the government should get out of the flood insurance business. To pass an extension of the program in June, Senate leaders tucked it into a highway and student loan funding bill.
The key committee chairmen, Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) appear ready to act.
“Flood insurance is all the more important at a time when so many communities have been devastated by natural disaster, and Chairman Johnson will closely monitor developments to make sure that the NFIP is able to meet its obligations and pay claims to policyholders,” a Democratic Senate Banking Committee aide said.
Bachus indicated the debt limit would need to be raised by several billion.
“Due to Hurricane Sandy, the nation's flood insurance program, which is already in debt, will also need billions more,” he told reporters last week. “Thankfully, we did pass legislation earlier this year with important reforms to the flood insurance program. And I wanted to announce that we stand ready to work with the administration and our Democratic colleagues in Congress to address these new challenges.”
The reauthorization of the NFIP in June allowed the program to charge higher premiums for new customers and phased-in higher premiums for long-time customers.
But the reform bill stopped short in several areas, and the debt limit bill could give reforms new life.
The June bill did not require residents living in “residual risk” areas to purchase flood insurance, notes Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
His group is looking for this reform to be revived in the lame-duck session.
Ray Lehmann of the conservative group R Street said his organization is pushing for FEMA to agree to take out reinsurance on NFIP to mitigate risk. The June reform bill made this optional for FEMA.
Some congressional aides were skeptical that much could be done in the way of further reform given how hard it was to pass an NFIP bill. That legislation was delayed for years as insurers, home builders, environmentalists and real estate agents squabbled over provisions.
The NFIP program is only one piece of Hurricane Sandy-related problems Congress is facing.
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund was given $7.1 billion at the start of October but is certain to burn through that amount as it deals with Sandy’s aftermath. Congress can grant the program $5 billion more in direct funding without breaking the August 2011 budget agreement.
House and Senate appropriators expect a supplemental spending bill could be needed next month. They have hatched a plan to use it to move a giant omnibus spending bill funding the government past the March expiration of the current continuing resolution.
The omnibus bill being prepared is at the $1.047 trillion level that was agreed to in August 2011, but which was opposed by House conservatives who want 2013 funding reduced by $19 billion.
As with NFIP, the giant bill and disaster relief spending could all be packaged together with the fiscal cliff bill.
and FHA needs bailout ......
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-15/fha-needs-bailout-from-treasury-to-plug-budget-bachus-says-2-.html
The Federal Housing Administration will need billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. Treasury before the end of the year to fill a financial hole caused by defaults on mortgages it insures, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said today.
FHA will propose increases in the premiums it charges to insure mortgages as one solution to its financial problems, Bachus said during a press conference in Washington. Still, that won’t be enough to offset its near term need for cash.
The agency is “burning through” its last $600 million and FHA officials have briefed him that they will need a financial backstop within a month, the Alabama Republican said during a press conference in Washington.
“Because of the number of foreclosures, they’ve indicated they will have to come to the American people and ask for money,” he said.
A request for aid would be the first in the agency’s 78- year history, and could create political problems at a time when Republicans and Democrats are engaged in negotiations over how to solve the nation’s fiscal woes.
FHA does not need prior approval from Congress to receive a financial infusion from Treasury. FHA spokesman George Gonzalez declined to comment.
Bachus refrained from criticizing the government mortgage insurer in remarks after the press conference and blamed the agency’s losses on the economy.
Bad Economy
“These are just a wave of foreclosures which we obviously are not over,” Bachus said. “It’s basically a function of a bad economy.”
Bachus’s remarks came a day before the agency is scheduled to release its annual actuarial report, which is expected to project that losses from defaults on the loans it insured from 2005 to 2009 will exceed the value of its insurance fund. That report, which will provide a picture of the agency’s financial situation, is separate from any eventual request for a draw from Treasury.
In advance of the report, FHA officials have been publicly emphasizing the role the agency plays in the economy as a backer of home loans for low-income borrowers who do not have large down payments. Agency officials have been sending out messages on Twitter with the hashtag #FHAmatters.
FHA insures a portfolio of about $1.1 trillion in home loans and now backs 15 percent of U.S. mortgages for home purchases.
The agency provides liquidity to the housing market by insuring lenders against losses on loans with down payments as low as 3.5 percent. Lenders are made whole if the mortgages default. Unlike Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies operating under U.S. conservatorship, FHA doesn’t package loans into securities or guarantee principal and interest payments.
The government-backed mortgage insurer until now has covered its costs with revenue from premiums. In the past two years, it has raised premiums and tightened credit standards in an effort to avoid asking for a taxpayer subsidy.
and USPS needs bailout....
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/postal_service/index.html
The United States Postal Service is the backbone of a mailing and shipping industry that employs more than 8.5 million people and supports almost $1 trillion in economic activity every year.
Since its founding in 1775 as the United States Post Office, with Benjamin Franklin as the original postmaster general, the service has focused mainly on one thing: delivering the mail. But mail volume, particularly first-class mail, has dropped sharply, to 168 billion pieces in 2011 from a peak of 213 billion in 2006, because of vast changes in the way Americans communicate, move money and even buy books and music.
Meanwhile, the agency has had a tough time cutting costs to match the revenue drop, with a history of labor contracts offering generous health and pension benefits and no layoff provisions, and laws that restrict its ability to cut the frequency of deliveries.
As a result, the service is losing a staggering $36 million a day, after having generated an annual profit as recently as 2006.
The Postal Service sank deeper into debt on Oct. 1, 2012, after the agency defaulted on a $5.6 billion payment due at the end of September, the second time it has missed a deadline this year to set aside money for its future retiree health benefits.
In November, it reported a record $15.9 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, bringing the financially troubled agency another step closer to insolvency.
http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/USPS-Requests-Help-From-Congress-As-It-Approaches-Insolvency-171517161.html
USPS Requests Help From Congress As It Approaches Insolvency
The U.S. Postal Service is pleading with Congress to step in and help as the agency inches closer to insolvency.
For the second time in as many months, USPS finds itself unable to pay the $5.6 billion federal law requires it to pay to fund health care benefits
on retirees. The problems are only expected to get worse if Congress doesn't act: the agency could run out of cash before the end of October. Holiday mail might allow it to stay afloat a little longer, but by spring, it could run out of money for good.
on retirees. The problems are only expected to get worse if Congress doesn't act: the agency could run out of cash before the end of October. Holiday mail might allow it to stay afloat a little longer, but by spring, it could run out of money for good.
Congress is refusing to address the Postal Service'sfinancial woes until after the presidential election at the earliest--and more likely not until 2013.
woes until after the presidential election at the earliest--and more likely not until 2013.
The refusal to give USPS immediate attention has angered many USPS employees and unions, who blame Congress for the agency's financial problems in the first place.
"The payment in question results from an unnecessary congressional mandate--an obligation not required of any other company or agency in the country," National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando told CNN.
Congress passed a law in 2006 requiring the prefunding of retiree benefits. The law was intended to help lower the federal deficit.
benefits. The law was intended to help lower the federal deficit.
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill in April to help USPS, but House Republicans balked at the cost and drafted their own bill, which has still yet to go beyond a committee.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who wrote the House bill, has however reached out to President Obama in recent weeks asking him to consider certain parts of the bill.
If the agency does run out of money, mail delivery is not expected to be impacted at this time; the Postal Service has a back-up plan for financial emergencies. But the agency may not be able to pay employees and sub-contractors.
is not expected to be impacted at this time; the Postal Service has a back-up plan for financial emergencies. But the agency may not be able to pay employees and sub-contractors.
And ironically the Pension Guaranty Scheme is also broke.....
http://www.wral.com/us-pension-insurer-runs-record-34b-deficit/11784400/
No comments:
Post a Comment