The Budget Control Act will raise the debt ceiling by about
$2.1 trillion, an increase that would last until early 2013.
An immedidate increase of $400 billion occurred upon President
Omaba's signature on the bill andf another $500 billion increase
would occur sometime during the fall.
The bill implements an immediate cut to government spending of
about $917 billion over the next decade and calls on Congress
to set up a special joint committee to find an additional
$1.5 trillion in cuts. If the committee fails to come to an
agreement, the bill includes mechanisms that would automatically
trigger acors-th board spending cuts that would amount to
$1.2 trillion over the next decade. These automatic cuts
would affect both domestic and defense spending.
In addition, the bill includes caps on discretionary spending
and calls for Congress to vote, before the end of the year,
on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.
Such an amendment would require the approval of a two-thirds
supermajority in both houses of Congress in order to be sent
to the states for ratificiation.
