Re: He didn't quite dump GoldytterbiusAugust 10 2011, 04:57:26 UTC
What I mean there is this.
The 14th amendment says "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
It's the argument that they were talking about how the President could just potentially unilaterally raise the debt ceiling if Congress didn't play ball.
However, the righthand lawyers have prepared for this and would suggest that, no, that's not what the Constitution says. The Government spends money on all sorts of things, not just debt. The Government CAN'T Constitutionally default on its debt, but it can certainly Constitutionally cut Welfare, or the EPA, or the Department of Education. They'd LOVE that!
See what I mean? If Obama had called on the 14th Amendment, Republicans would have him under impeachment hearings in a moment, saying (correctly) that he had unilaterally broken a law that had previously been set forth by Congress and Signed by a President (the debt ceiling).
Republicans would argue that he had no right to break the debt ceiling law, all he had to do was to cut spending in order to stay within budget.
Who knows the politics that really went on, but there was definitely talk of using the 14th Amendment, but the Administration wouldn't go there.
The 14th amendment says "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
It's the argument that they were talking about how the President could just potentially unilaterally raise the debt ceiling if Congress didn't play ball.
However, the righthand lawyers have prepared for this and would suggest that, no, that's not what the Constitution says. The Government spends money on all sorts of things, not just debt. The Government CAN'T Constitutionally default on its debt, but it can certainly Constitutionally cut Welfare, or the EPA, or the Department of Education. They'd LOVE that!
See what I mean? If Obama had called on the 14th Amendment, Republicans would have him under impeachment hearings in a moment, saying (correctly) that he had unilaterally broken a law that had previously been set forth by Congress and Signed by a President (the debt ceiling).
Republicans would argue that he had no right to break the debt ceiling law, all he had to do was to cut spending in order to stay within budget.
Who knows the politics that really went on, but there was definitely talk of using the 14th Amendment, but the Administration wouldn't go there.
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