America going platinum

AMERICA'S government is full of oddities, and here's one: it is possible for the government to pass spending and tax bills which lead to an illegal amount of accumulated debt. The government's borrowing results from all the tax and spending choices made by past and present elected officials and leads to annual deficits that add to a strock of public debt. Once the tax and spending choices are made, the resulting debt load is a fait accompli, a residual. Yet said elected officials have also seen fit to pass a law declaring that debt must fall below a specific limit. From time to time, then, Congress has to pass a law raising the limit—essentially, declaring its past choices legal—or face dire fiscal consequences. If the limit is reached and not raised government outlays must be cut immediately and dramatically or the government must default on some of its debt-interest payments. ...