Growth for 2011 could go in 95 days

WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- It would take 95 days for the U.S. economy to lose its growth this year if the federal debt limit is not raised, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

In Washington, Republican lawmakers have threatened to vote no on raising the debt limit if an agreement on long-term budget cuts is not part of the package. Without raising the limit, however, the government would, essentially, fall into default and likely stop Social Security and Medicare checks as well as payments to military personnel, the Journal said.

Whatever programs it decides to cut, the government would need to stop about 35 percent of its outlays.

In hard numbers, that amounts to about $3.8 billion in cuts per day, the Journal said, basing its figures on Congressional Budget Office projections.

At $3.8 billion in cuts per day, it would take 95 days for the figure to match 2.9 percent of the gross domestic product. In other words, in 95 days all the growth in the economy expected in 2011 would be canceled out, the Journal said.

The Treasury Department has said the debt ceiling needs to be raised by Aug. 2. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has repeatedly warned it would be a "catastrophe" if the debt ceiling was not raised.