while the debate was going on we got screwed again

The debt ceiling will rise once again — this time by $1.2 trillion — after the Senate today blocked a resolution that would have denied President Obama an increase. The increase is enough to keep the government running and paying its bills through November 2012.
This increase would raise the U.S. government’s credit limit to $16.394 trillion. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the current U.S. gross domestic product sits at $15.176 trillion.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/senate-oks-rise-in-debt-ceiling-again/