Debt limit

I hesitated about posting on a rather complicated subject but boiled down and concentrated, I think the debt limit is unconstitutional and that Biden should ignore it in the end.

My main argument concerns the powers of the Congress and the President. Under the constitution, the Congress alone has the power to levy taxes and appropriate money. The President has the constitutional duty to collect those taxes and spend those appropriated funds in the manner the Congress has directed. The President does not have authority to pick and choose what Congressionally created debts he will or will not pay. Furthermore, once the legislation levying taxes and appropriating funds is passed and signed, it's as binding on the Congress as it is on the President. There is no provision in the constitution for a backdoor after the fact veto by one house of Congress.

So faced with violating a statute to fulfill his constitutional duty or violating his constitutional duty, and incidentally violating the Fourteenth Amendment, there is no doubt as to where the President's duty lies.

There is no doubt that the House can and should address the deficit and the the debt but it can't rewrite its own legislation on its own.

 

Or mint a few Trillion Dollar Coins. I'd like to see that because of course I would!

 

Pay the bills.

Congress is threatening to fail to cover the spending they themselves spent. The administration should ensure the US is good for it, leverage the 14th Amendment, and argue it before the Supreme Court if necessary. But pay the bills.

 

There's no way to know of course, barring another SCROTUS leak, but I'd expect the Court to punt. Fights between the Legislative and Executive branches are common and each side has its own checks and balances. If SCROTUS decided the case, they'd make big time enemies or plunge the country's finances into crisis. Either way the Court loses.

 

What an unfortunate acronym! Sounds --- anatomical.

 

Oh - I think I get it now. That's a hint that the "Five Guys named Justice" will stick together and carry the day, right?

 

yup

 

How cynical is Joe Biden? Is it possible that he doesn't want to avoid default if he can blame it successfully on McCarthy and the GOP?

 

The thing about the $T coin is that it requires no legislation and does not require the President to disregard the debt limit. I love it!

 

Does it matter whether the markets react to the Coin or a default?

 

If Biden goes with the Coin and succeeds that will be the practical end of the debt limit. Congress will have to consider funding and debt when they vote on the budget. Call me a starry eyed idealist but that sounds like the right way to do things.

 

All the more reason to mint the Coins!

Tell you what. Let's put Ronald Reagan's portrait on the Trillion Dollar Coin. That should silence any GOP opposition, right?

 

No. It has never been the policy of the Democratic Party to fail to raise the debt limit so the nation can pay its obligations. That is a thing only for the other party.

 

If the entire situation was reversed and it was Trump minting the coin, I know whose face would be on it.

 

Well, you can't legally put the face of a living person on a US coin..But what about the other end...hmm.