While members of Congress were unable to complete work on the omnibus spending bill or the intelligence bill during the lame-duck session, they did manage to complete their work on the debt limit.

Both the House and the Senate approved measures that will raise the debt ceiling by $800 billion, bringing the debt limit to $8.18 billion dollars. This marks the third time since 2001 that Congress has had to increase the debt limit to keep up with both federal spending and tax cuts. The failure of Congress to reinstate PayGo restrictions demonstrates a severe lack of fiscal discipline; and in essence gives the president a blank check to continue running large deficits.

Raising the debt ceiling, while necessary to fund U.S. agencies and programs, has profound implications for our nation's fiscal house. A Washington Post article raises some concerns. Yet little is being done to address the long-range structural problems we now face.

While Congress acted to raise the debt ceiling, it was unable to reach agreement on the bill to overhaul U.S. intelligence agencies. After weeks of debate, Republican lawmakers blocked it from going to the floor on the last day of the lame-duck session, even as President Bush urged its passage. There is hope that an agreement will be reached before January, in which case the 108th Congress will reconvene one more time for a vote, possibly during the Dec. 6 lame-duck.