Pelosi urges Obama to sidestep Congress, use 14th Amendment to raise debt ceiling

[wjtwet]

Originally Posted by All American NYC

Pelosi doesn't care how high the debt goes, her children and grandchildren will be very well taken care of.

I guess since writing a bill we had to pass to know what was in it did not work try dissolving the constitution

[trlhiker]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

I doubt she'd be saying the same if a Republican were President.

And I doubt republicans would try to stop it if a Republican was in the WH.

[trlhiker]

Originally Posted by jwm1964

The 14th Amendment does state the president may usurp authority only given to congress.
I would say this is an impeachable offense if he does try.

Did you feel the same way when Reagan and Bush did the same thing?

[squarian]

He doesn't even need the 14th - Frum is right, the House GOP will surrender:

Republicans in Congress and the country have indicated to the party base that they will probably have to yield. The president has insisted, however, that Republicans will receive nothing in return for yielding. The next round of negotiations, over the budget, starts all over again, from zero.

Obama Gets Tough - The Daily Beast

[MTAtech]

Originally Posted by doctorhugo

This is serious stuff AA/NYC and just a passing comment doesn't get the job done. To that end I would say that if the Repubs don't lock arms and hold fast against this and force a "default" NOTHING WILL EVER HAPPEN to curtail spending at the federal level until the DOLLAR COLLAPSES.

A key element in this debate is over use of the Fourteenth Amendment and this provision, Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment, states that... That means "legally" that there is a legal interpretation that can be made as a constitutionally viable case that ANYTHING that interferes with the payment and accounting for the public debt is unconstitutional. Respected legal scholars/journalist have made that very point in support of Obozo making an end-run around Congress(1). Wait though...doesn't it say "the validity"? That doesn't mean that by not agreeing to extending the debt AGAIN..., that this section is being violated. Others with far greater credentials than mine are making that opposing case though.

However, there is a contrarian opinion by libertarian Judge Andrew Napolitano that breaks down the meaning of words and makes his position effectively by taking into consideration the ORIGINAL CONTEXT of this provision in the Fourteenth Amendment. Pelosi is a borderline moron and doesn't understand that only Congress controls the federal purse-strings, NOT the Executive Branch.(2).

So what we are heading for should the House stand firm against Obozo is this interpretation taken to The Court of Nine, SCOTUS, for argument and resolution to resolve another constitutional crisis. And it will all come down to, I predict, a parsing of word meanings. It's imo still a toss-up as to which way a majority opinion will go, but...

I'm for PUSHING for that method of resolution.

Why? If the House relents and again rubber-stamps the Obozo debt extension they've conceded a legal issue that has NOT BEEN ADJUDICATED at the highest court in the land. They've quit out of political trepidation and Compromised by Capitulation and set a precedent of behavior against the "public interest". Not the way to advocate as the representatives of "We the People" in "the peoples' House".

(1) President Obama
(2) Judge Napolitano: Obama Cannot Use the 14th Amendment to Raise the Debt Ceiling | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Judge Napolitano is a paid Fox hack. He has no credibility. He also was saying how Romney was going to win in a landslide.

The fact remains, if the GOP House wants to curtail spending they have every opportunity to do that when the vote for spending bills. Holding the credit of the nation hostage unless their ransom demands are met is reckless.

But what are those ransom demands? They're not saying.

But here is the underlying problem, if the President doesn't spend the money designated by Congress he is violating the law. Concurrently, the President cannot spend money that the Treasury lacks. Consequently, those that refuse to raise the debt ceiling are creating a situation where either the President must violate one law or another.