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The Spectacle Blog
President Obama’s “nuclear option” for resolving the debt ceiling negotiations is to simply order the Treasury to ignore the ceiling and resume issuing debt. I mentioned this on Monday as one of the more unlikely scenarios for resolving the standoff, but the idea is now creeping into the Democratic consciousness.
Matt Zeitlin reported in The New Republic that legal scholars cite two reasons that Obama could get away with overriding the debt limit. The first is that Congress likely wouldn’t have standing to sue the administration. The second is the Fourteenth Amendment: “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.”
And yesterday the Huffington Post reported that a number of Democrats are indeed subscribing to the Fourteenth Amendment view. The article quotes Sen. Chris Coons as saying, “I don’t think, as of a couple weeks ago, when this was first raised, it was seen as a pressing option. But I’ll tell you that it’s going to get a pretty strong second look as a way of saying, ‘Is there some way to save us from ourselves?’” Patty Murray of Washington also called the Fourteenth Amendment approach “fascinating.”
The HuffPo also notes that if Obama were to ignore the debt limit even without providing a Constitutional argument, he wouldn’t be doing anything terribly different from what he’s doing to the War Powers Act now in Libya.
It’s probably very unlikely that Obama would follow this course of action and order the Treasury to issue bonds without Congress raising the debt ceiling, simply because raising the debt ceiling is already an unpopular proposition. Ignoring the debt ceiling law in order to thwart the will of the people would be a huge political loser for Obama, worse than almost any possible compromise outcomes.
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More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/29/debt-ceiling-what-debt-ceiling
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MikeN| 6.29.11 @ 10:51AM
Really not an option. Congress can just say these debts are not authorized and the debts will not be paid. Who is going to buy this debt that might not be repaid?
Conservative Bob| 6.29.11 @ 11:11AM
I say "Go for it Obama!" He has twisted and turned the law on its head throughout his term thus far, why stop now?
Hold firm do not allow any cuts to take place and if the GOP will not raise taxes to completely kill the economy, just ignore them and borrow whatever you need under any legal construct you can dream up.
Then as 2013 unfolds there will not be so much as a democrat dog catcher in the whole of the country.. Please exercise this option.
David W| 6.29.11 @ 2:01PM
Let's hope Obama goes with his gut instinct.... sure to be a real loser of an idea....
Teflon93| 6.29.11 @ 11:14AM
Except that the executive branch can't spend a dime except with Congressional authority.
If the Republicans had any stones they'd redline any of this spending from the next budget---zeroing in on each and every Democrat cause at the federal trough.
Tom Osterman| 6.29.11 @ 11:39AM
If nothing else, this sad episode shows that the debt ceiling is a fiction, which those in power can, do and will ignore when they wish.
Have you considered| 6.29.11 @ 11:48AM
Did you notice the "Authorized By Law" part in the 14th amendment? Well, that "authority" rests with Congress, not the president.
The language can be found in Article 1, Which establishes a Congress.
""Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Then see Article 1, Section 8,
"" Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts...""
Now, Art 1, Sec 8, Item #2:
""To borrow money on the credit of the United States;""
This is not rocket science. If Obama tries to use the 14th as his argument, then he will be in breach of oath of office, and impeachable.
It really is that simple.
RWinks| 6.29.11 @ 12:41PM
And when did BO begin obeying the law?
Clint| 6.29.11 @ 12:02PM
" If the debt ceiling is not increased, the Treasury can prioritize interest and debt payment to avoid a default and essentially put the government on a stringent pay-as-you-go basis. Would that involve extreme cuts in government spending? Certainly. But it could be done, if it had to.
Let's remember that the Treasury still rakes in quite a bit of money in revenues — it took in $604 billion (seasonally adjusted) in the third quarter of 2010. In FY 2010 the annual debt service was some $414 billion, working out to an average of about $104 billion per quarter. Although the numbers won't be quite the same going forward, the debt service will soak up only about one-sixth of the incoming revenues."
Martin Owens| 6.29.11 @ 12:12PM
The Constitution in broken, and we are stabbing each other with the shards of it.
Teflon93| 6.29.11 @ 2:30PM
The Constitution is fine, the Democrats are broken, and stabbing us with the shards of the bureaucracy they've built and man.
Martin Owens| 6.29.11 @ 12:12PM
oops, that's "is broken"
J.C.Eaton| 6.29.11 @ 12:30PM
This Chris Coons is priceless! "We need to save us from ourselves." A man for our time, a Senate worthy of Cicero. God save us, these boobs certainly can't.
RWinks| 6.29.11 @ 12:39PM
Yeah, J.C., and Chris Coons is the genius chosen by Democrats in Maryland over "dumb" and "incompetent" Christine O'Donnell.