US national debt hits US$16 trillion

WASHINGTON – The U.S. national debt has topped US$16 trillion as chronic government deficits have piled more than US$50 000 worth of debt onto federal ledgers for every man, woman and child in the United States.

President Barack Obama’s Republican rivals used the grim but expected news to blast the president for the government’s dreadful fiscal performance over his three-and-a-half years in office. Obama has presided over four straight years of trillion dollar-plus deficits after inheriting a weak economy from his predecessor, George W Bush.The spiralling debt means that lawmakers and whomever wins the White House in November will have to pass legislation to raise the government’s borrowing cap from the current ceiling of US$16,4 trillion. Passing such legislation last year proved enormously difficult and the nation’s credit rating suffered. – Nampa-AP