Orrin Hatch: “we are apparently pressing another deadline with regard to the statutory debt limit. I am reminded of the old…”

“we are apparently pressing another deadline with regard to the statutory debt limit. I am reminded of the old paradoxical proverb: ``The more things change, the more they stay the same.'' We have dealt with the debt limit here in Congress on numerous occasions, and while there are significant differences this time around, there are some things that just don't change, particularly when we are dealing with the Obama administration. One thing that is different is that our national debt is higher than it has ever been before, more than $18 trillion--an astronomical number, when you think about it. That is $57,000 of debt for every U.S. citizen--every man, woman, and child from age 1 to 101. Just for the people in my State of Utah, which has a relatively small population, that means $167 billion of debt. As a share of our GDP, the debt is higher now than at almost any time with the exception of a brief period surrounding World War II. Yet, even though our debt has gotten further and further out of hand under this President, the administration's approach has not changed. As we all know, Treasury Secretary Lew recently sent a series of letters urging Congress to raise the debt limit. In his latest communication, he projected that on November 3, the Treasury will begin to run dangerously low on cash, creating an unacceptably high risk of having to delay payments. Of course, we don't have an ability to verify that projection.…”