We should point out that a vote to increase the debt limit doesn't increase spending directly. The spending was already authorized by other legislation, and now the Treasury Department needs a formal signoff to keep issuing debt. Some analysts have compared it to writing the check to cover a credit card bill for things you already charged.
Still, it's critical for the United States to keep paying its debts and experts say failure to do so could ultimately lead to chaos in the financial markets. The Obama administration has been pushing hard to have a debt limit vote approved, and the earlier the better. Officials say a drawn-out process could spook international financial markets. (See our story for a more in-depth discussion of the debt limit vote.)
The votes -- there have been 10 since 2001 -- are famous for political posturing, and President Barack Obama is no exception. Back in 2006, he joined with other Senate Democrats to vote against raising the debt limit, a measure supported by President George W. Bush.
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills," Obama said. The Senate narrowly approved raising the limit along partisan lines, 52-48, with all Democrats opposed.
Typically, the party that controls the White House has had to take the difficult vote to raise the limit, while the other party was free to criticize. An analysis of the past 10 years of votes on the debt limit from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center shows the vote usually splits along partisan lines, with the president's party voting in support.