US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently informed members of Congress that the government will be in this situation on or around August 2. Having already officially hit the ceiling, the Treasury is moving money around and tapping various pots of unused funds to pay its bills.
美国财政部长盖特纳最近就政府将在8月2日左右触及债务限额一事向国会作了汇报。在借债总额已经到达上限的情况下，财政部当前正在东挪西凑地动用各种闲置资金还债。而再过几个星期，这些“流动性”也将告罄。考虑到美国政府当前每1美元的支出中就有40美分债务的处境，一个真正具有约束力的债务限额将迫使其不顾一切地大幅削减支出。