Burdened under a projected deficit of $52 billion in 1976, $70 billion if Congress doesn't go along with proposed budget cuts, the United States Treasury plans to borrow an estimated $28 billion in the next five months. The move will spill more red ink onto government books than at any time since World War ll. To facilitate the massive deficit spending, Treasury officials have asked for a hike in the national debt ceiling from $495 to $604 billion. The new figure represents approximately $2,800 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States. The extra indebtedness reflects to some degree the effects of tax cuts to pull the economy out of the current recession. But it also represents the unwillingness (and, in part, inability) of both the executive and legislative bodies - especially the latter - to curtail spending.
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