Raising the Debt Ceiling

The debt limit was put in place to prevent the Treasury from issuing new debt to cover short term bills. Congress implemented the first debt limit in 1917 as part of the Second Liberty Bond Act. The law delegated the approval of individual bonds to the Treasury, but still allowed Congress to have control over the country's finances. The limit applies to debt issued to the public and debt borrowed from the governments accounts, such as Social Security, Medicare, Transportation and Civil Service Retirement funds.

The debt ceiling has been raised or extended 78 times since 1960, 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents, including 3 times under President Obama and 7 times under President George W. Bush.

Credit: CBS