Politics and religion.

[lizbud]

Excuse me for being dumb, but can someone explain to me just what in the world the debt ceiling is? I'd never heard of it until this year.

How does raising it help us? Is it the amount we can borrow or the amount other countries will loan us or what?

You are not dumb. I don't think many people outside of Washington DC know
or understand what the debt ceiling is (including me).

This explains it a bit.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/polit...ing_05-16.html

It's the amount of money that the Government is allowed to borrow this
year or any year. The debt limit is set by Congress & can be raised by them.