美国新的债务上限到底是多少？

　　新浪财经讯 北京时间2月12日上午消息 国会势将再次冻结债务上限，新的债务上限要比去年秋季高出5120亿美元。

　　财政部周二报告，在原债务上限冻结期在上周五到期后，美国新债务上限自动上升至17.2万亿美元。

　　这里要解释一下：冻结债务上限已成为新的“提高”债务上限的方式。这种安排允许财政部根据需求支付账单，并避免违约。在冻结期结束后，新债务上限将是原债务上限加上财政部在冻结期的借款额。

　　换句话说，冻结债务上限在技术不会提高债务上限，债务上限的提高是冻结带来的净效应。

　　这种设计的好处是国会不必再为具体提高额进行投票，相当于实报实销，多退少补。

　　新的债务上限是17,211,558,177,668.77美元，自2011年8月1日以来，已经连续五次提高。

　　众议院周二表示将提出一个干净的议案，不再提出任何附加条件。众议院议长博纳周二晚将“干净的”债务上限议案提交到众议院表决并获得通过，虽然仅有28位众议员支持这一议案。

　　目前议案已经转交到参议院，预计参议院肯定也会通过这一议案。    原文以下：

　　Lawmakers are poised to again suspend the debt ceiling -- at a level that's now about $512 billion higher than it was last fall。

　　On Tuesday, the Treasury Department reported that the nation's borrowing limit automatically reset to roughly $17.2 trillion, after the last suspension expired on Friday. 

　　Here's why: Suspensions have become lawmakers' favorite way of "raising" the debt ceiling. They let Treasury borrow as needed to pay the bills and avert default. And when the suspension ends, the debt limit resets to the old cap plus whatever Treasury borrowed during the suspension period。

　　In other words, a suspension doesn't technically raise the debt ceiling, but that's the net effect。

　　The beauty for Congress is that lawmakers don't have to go on record as voting for a formal increase by a specific dollar amount。

　　The reset to $17,211,558,177,668.77 marks the fifth effective increase in the debt ceiling since August 1, 2011, when it was $14.3 trillion。

　　But House Republicans on Tuesday said they would drop their demands for concessions tied to a debt limit extension. So House Speaker John Boehner brought a "clean" debt ceiling bill to the floor for a vote, and it passed Tuesday evening with just 28 Republicans backing the measure。　　(明煜)