U.S. Regime May Cite 14th Amendment to Keep Raising Debt Ceiling
July 10th, 2011Forget your gold coins and bars. This is comedy gold!
I had guessed that the regime would use something from one or more of the multiple emergency declarations that the U.S. is under to keep the band playing on, but going to the Constitution might make for less worrisome soundbites—assuming that it goes that far, which I doubt that it will.
Via: AFP:
The White House could resort to an little-known line in the US constitution to prevent a ruinous default if Democrats and Republicans do not agree to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, experts say.
The 143-year-old clause, written to address still-potent divisions after the bloody Civil War, has been dredged up by legal scholars as well as the US Treasury secretary to suggest how a debt debacle might be avoided.
But resorting to it could spark a constitutional crisis over just who — the Congress or the White House — controls the power of the federal purse, analysts say.
…
If the impasse is not broken, could President Barack Obama simply ignore the ceiling and borrow more money?
Some legal experts believe he could, citing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1868.
With the country still wrestling with post-war divisions, section four of the amendment was written after politicians from the defeated south sought to block the north’s commitment to repay large debts arising from its victorious campaign.
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law … shall not be questioned,” it reads.
Neil Buchanan, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said that means the government’s obligation to make payments cannot be abrogated by some “arbitrary limit.”
“If Congress has enacted laws that create public obligations, then those obligations must be met,” Buchanan wrote in a column on Thursday.
Taken a step farther, some suggest, the law may make the debt ceiling itself unconstitutional.
While some have argued that the constitutional clause was specific to the situation of the time, a 1935 Supreme Court ruling established that it still applies, Buchanan said.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has warned that a default would have “catastrophic” consequences, raised the clause during a discussion of the debt ceiling in May — though he did not say the White House should invoke it if negotiations fail.
If invoked, experts say, it could spark a nasty fight over constitutional powers between the White House and Congress.
Oh yeah. This is such a “cliffhanger.” Tim Geithner should be saying instead of all this all this other bullshit, RETURN TO THE GOLD STANDARD.
That’s the only way that I can see that the U.S. Government can take back control of the money laundering and cash printing being purpetrated by the Federal Reserve. Hey Tim, being a former Bankster, do you have a clue (YET)?