The debt ceiling debacle has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1.7 billion – the amount of additional interest the government had to pay investors Monday to sell U.S. Treasury bills that finance its operations, CNNMoney reported. “That’s real money,” said IHS Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh. “Taxpayers need to wake up to the fact that these kind of shenanigans in the end cost.” On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department  auctioned $27 billion of three-month bills at an interest rate of 0.115 percent, up from 0.02 percent two weeks ago. The Treasury Department also auctioned $24 billion of six-month bills at a rate of 0.15 percent, an increase from 0.06 percent two weeks ago. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on a deal to raise the debt ceiling through 2012. The U.S. House approved the measure Monday.