2010-02-04 CNN
So, the debt limit is how much money a country can borrow. Yesterday, the Senate voted to increase it. This doesn't mean the debt limit is definitely going up, though; it still has to get through the House of Representatives. But let's look at the numbers here. The Senate vote would've raise the country's debt limit by $1.9 trillion. Right now, the limit is around $12.4 trillion, and we're about there. So, the increase would move it up to about $14.3 trillion. The reason we have this limit in the first place is because if the country ever borrows more than it's allowed to, it means the U.S. would be in what's called default. And that could have serious consequences for investors and for the economy.
Ben Bernanke, whom you see right here, is the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the country's central bank. And thanks to another vote by the Senate, he will keep that title for a while longer. Yesterday, he was confirmed for a second term. The final tally was 70 to 30, which may not sound close, but it's actually one of the smallest margins of all time for a Fed chairman. The reason why: the recession. Some lawmakers say Bernanke deserves the blame for it. Others believe his decisions kept it from getting even worse.
The U.S. auto industry was hit hard by the recession. But one carmaker has good news: Ford reported that it earned a profit last year for the first time since 2005. The company lost more than $7 billion in 2008, last year, it earned $2.7 billion. And, Ford executives expect to make a profit again in 2010.
Meantime, Toyota, expanding its recall of vehicles whose gas pedals may be malfunctioning. The announcement affects more than 5 million cars in the U.S. and Europe. Toyota says it's working on a solution and could have a new pedal design ready soon. CNN's Ali Velshi talked with the chairman of Ford about his take on Toyota's situation. Take a listen.