U.S. hits debt limit

The United States ran up against the legal limits of its borrowing authority on Monday as a top Republican ratcheted up his party's demand for deep spending cuts as part of any increase on the debt ceiling. A failure to raise the debt ceiling in time would force the United States to default on obligations, whether payments to Social Security retirees or interest on the debt. That could bring on a crippling financial crisis, push the United States back into recession and roil economies and markets across the globe.