On February 15, President Barack Obama signed into law legislation to raise the Federal debt limit. The measure enables the government to borrow money to pay its bills, including Social Security benefits and the salaries of Federal workers. Failure to pass the bill — which passed the House 221 to 201 and the Senate 67 to 31 — could have led to another government shutdown and a first-ever default on the U.S. debt. Congress’s approval of the debt limit bill means that the Treasury Department is free to borrow money through March 15, 2015, and that lawmakers will not have to revisit…