Eliminate the Debt Ceiling

by: Publisher

Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 15:50:38 PM EDT

The United State and Denmark are the only countries in the World that have an official debt ceiling. In most countries, once the Legislature establishes a budget authorizing certain expenses and establishing a tax policy, simple arithmetic indicates how the Legislature's decisions will increase or decrease that countries debt.

Only Denmark has a system similar to the United States where the legislature has to approve increases to the debt separately from approving the budget. The Danish set the ceiling high enough so that it never slows the process of borrowing money and they can avoid political conflicts like the one currently gripping the U.S.

Barry Bosworth, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said the U.S. debt ceiling "has no logical basis."

Congress, through budget and appropriations bills, has sole authority to decide how much the government will spend, so he said "it makes no sense to have a secondary rule to then object to the deficit that emerges from the other decisions." (ABC News)

Perhaps Congress should have sought additional revenues by — for example — allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, or by taxing the income of hedge fund managers and corporations the same way they tax the income of working Americans.

Perhaps Congress should have decreased expenses by — for example — pulling out of Afghanistan or switching to a single-payer health insurance system and empowering it to negotiate with pharmaceuticals for the best possible rates.

However, having not done so, Congress has caused that the national debt to increase, and failing to honor the resulting commitments is irresponsible and probably an unconstitutional violation of Section 4 of the 14th 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.

The Tea Party often uses the household budget as a model for the U.S. budget. However, suppose my wife and I decided to work in jobs earning a total of $50,000, and we decided to make purchases totaling $100,000. Eventually, the credit card bill arrives and showing an increase in debt as a direct consequence of the choices I made. Do I have the right to impose a "debt ceiling" and refuse to recognize the debt I have incurred about this arbitrary limit?

Surely not.

And surely the United States Congress does not have the right to hold the "full faith and credit" of the United States hostage to their political agenda.

Please call your Representative and urge him or her to eliminate or raise the debt ceiling. See writerep.house.gov to find your Represenative's contact information.

New York Times chart breaking down the source of the debt follows jump.

Taking the 14th

by: Bruce Ticker

Mon Jul 18, 2011 at 19:48:43 PM EDT

A lot of trouble could have been avoided had President Obama invoked the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt limit. Obviously, the president had his reasons for taking the Republicans head on.

Ironic that President Obama will openly violate the Constitution over Libya yet sidestep a chance to avoid a major uproar.

The president may well have constitutional authority to direct the Department of Treasury to pay its bills, He could have averted the current spectacle that seems to rival biblical proportions.

Prior to the debt-limit situation, Obama continued military operations in Libya without receiving congressional authorization after 60 days, as required by the War Powers Act in lieu of a declaration of war by Congress.

Republicans exploited the deadline to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit to sever $2 trillion in programs that serve ordinary Americans without raising taxes on the wealthy or even eliminating corporate tax breaks.

More after the jump.

Geither: Debt Ceiling is Unconstitutional

by: Publisher

Fri Jul 01, 2011 at 17:19:36 PM EDT

The United States is the only country in the world with a "debt ceiling".

Congress has approved a budget in which revenues are insufficient to cover expenses (thanks in part to extending Bush era tax cuts to Millionaires and tax loopholes for hedge fund managers, oil companies, ethanol producers and companies which ship jobs overseas). Simple arithmetic tell you that if Congress commits to a level of expenses without providing adequate revenue, then the debt will as a consequence expand. By denying the expansion of the debt already implied by the budget Congress has passed into law, Congress defies not only logic and mathematics, but the United States Constitution itself.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was asked by Mike Allen about the negotiations over default and the debt ceiling. According to Geithner, a debt ceiling requirement is unconstitutional:

Geithner: I think there are some people who are pretending not to understand it, who think there's leverage for them in threatening a default. I don't understand it as a negotiating position. I mean really think about it, you're going to say that-- can I read you the 14th amendment?

Allen: We'll stipulate the 14th Amendment.

Geithner :No, I want to read this one thing.

Allen: It's paper clipped! [Geithner's copy of the Constitution was clipped so that it would open directly to the passage in question.]

Geithner "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payments of pension and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion" -- this is the important thing -- "shall not be questioned."