With Congress looking to spend its way out of the recession, it’s running into a bit of a hiccup: the government’s credit card is about to be maxed-out.

And big spenders in Congress aren’t planning on cutting spending in order to balance the budget. Instead, Congress will raise the debt limit by an additional $1.9 trillion, allowing the government to borrow (and spend) even more money. In other words, Congress will effectively raise the credit limit on its own credit card.

How, exactly, does the debt limit work? How did Congress get in this position of borrowing, spending, and raising the debt limit so it can spend even more?

Watch this Heritage Foundation video to see the whole story in plain English.