The debt ceiling, or the legal limit the federal government may borrow, is set currently at $16.4 trillion. In his latest report, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner predicts that the United States will need to increase the debt ceiling sometime between February 15, 2013, and early March 2013. The Congressional Research Service estimates the federal government will have to issue an additional $700 billion in debt above the current statutory limit to finance obligations for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2013. This article explores the different problems and reforms that need to be addressed before raising the next debt ceiling.