[tolbiny]

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That's not what that means. "full faith and credit" is government speak for "My word is my bond". Isn't your word valuable to you?

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No, that's not what they are saying. They are saying that the ability to increase their level of debt is an asset. My word is only an asset if I can keep it, it is a liability when I cannot keep it. I don't increase the value of my word by increasing the number of times I borrow money, I decrease it by making it harder to pay back my initial promises as well as the new promises.

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I don't know exactly what this means, but I don't see how you could argue that the ability to borrow $9 trillion at 4.5% in your own currency is anything but a gigantic asset.

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You borrow $100 from me, I estimate a very high chance of you paying it back.
You now borrow an additional $100 from Borodog, I have to lower my estimation that you will be able to pay it back.
PVN steps up and lends you another $100, both Boro and I lower our expectations of being paid back.
You then announce that you wish to borrow $300 more dollars, B, P and I all devalue the likely hood of you paying us back further. This is what raising the cap is, the government is saying that it INTENDS to borrow more than 9 trillion, not that banks/individuals/foreign governments want to LEND us more money.