Those wacky legislators in Congress are at it again. Democrats have added language to once again increase the national debt ceiling, or debt limit, which is the maximum amount of debt the federal government can issue. Democrats added language to a housing relief bill increasing the limit by another $800 billion to an astounding $10.615 trillion (that's trillion with a "t"). While the current national debt stands at $9.456 trillion, about $400 billion below the current debt limit according the Treasury Department, their projections show that limit might be reached before the year is over and after Congress has ajourned for the year. It seems the Dems are taking this action mostly as a precautionary move. This will mark the sixth time in the last seven years that Congress has increased the debt limit (see chart below). Most of those increases came during Republican control of Congress, although the last two increases have been while Democrats control both chambers. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the trend will change anytime soon as Congress has only given lip-service to issues of fiscal responsibility. Congress' current committment to pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules is tenuous at best, and Craig posted last week about a Congressional Budget Office report showing some pretty dire consequences for the national debt if Congress does not adopt more responsible tax policies than they are currently considering. National Debt Ceiling Increases, 2002 - 2008 Year Increase (billions) Debt Limit (trillions) 2002 $450 $6.400 2003 $984 $7.384 2004 $800 $8.184 2006 $781 $8.965 2007 $850 $9.815 2008* $800 $10.615 * proposed increase for 2008 Source: The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases, CRS, 2008