Nine days until default; the Sojourners fight preemptive audits for low-income households; and the Children's Defense Fund releases their Action Guide. T-9 Days until default: The national debt is reaching its legal limit. Treasury Secretary Snow today told congressional leaders that May 28th, nine days from today, is the deadline: if Congress does not vote to raise the debt ceiling, the government must default on its obligations, and will not be able to make payments to Social Security recipients, to make tax refunds, or to pay any of its other bills. The Senate is currently considering a $1 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, which now stands at $6.4 trillion. Just last year congress boosted the debt limit by $450 billion. A $1 trillion increase is probably high enough to keep the rising national debt out of the news until after the election. Typically, debt limit increases pass without much fanfare. This year, the debt increase highlights the growing deficits, which are a stark change from record surpluses of just a few years ago. The proposed new tax cuts will necessitate even higher debt limits in the future. Congressional Republicans aren't highlighting the rising national debt, but hoping to get a quick bill through to raise it, without public attention. Sojourners (Christians for Justice and Peace) has started a campaign against the proposed effort by the IRS to "pre-audit" taxpayers claiming an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). If the IRS action goes into effect, it will require of low-income households the most exhaustive proof of eligibility of any class of taxpayers. The IRS says that in 1998, EITC filers who were not entitled to the credit received between $8.5 and $10 billion. (Given how complicated the process is, much of this is likely simple mistakes, as opposed to tax evasion.) In contrast, a Harvard economist's study showed that corporations avoided $54 billion in taxes in 1999 by hiding profits in tax shelters. See the SojournersÕ for more information. The recently released Children's Defense Fund Action Guide is a useful tool for state advocates arguing against more tax cuts. It discusses the skewed benefits of the 2001 tax cuts and proposed tax cuts (at pages 14-15) and provides state-by-state charts showing child poverty, number of uninsured children, and spending on education (at pages 42-44).