Can Biden Circumvent McCarthy's Threats to Let America Default on its Debts?

[Fantine]

Scholars are saying that the 14th Amendment requires the U.S. to pay its debts.

If Congress fails to act, some legal experts say Democratic President Joe Biden has another option to avert a crisis: Invoke the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure the United States can continue to pay its bills.

Some, like Cornell University law professor Michael Dorf, say the "least unconstitutional" option would be for Biden to act on his own to protect the integrity of the national debt.

"That would mean borrowing money," he said.

Any action by Biden would surely prompt a lawsuit.

WHO COULD SUE OVER THE DEBT CEILING?​

It's not clear who could bring a case. It could be difficult for any plaintiff to prove they had been harmed by the action — a legal concept known as "standing."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that individual lawmakers do not have standing to file such lawsuits, but Congress could potentially vote to say that it had been collectively harmed.

This is really interesting...and yes, I'm sure it would go to the Supreme Court, but except for the two most extreme, would the Supreme Court really want to set off an economic cataclysm by ruling in favor of the dissenters?

Could Biden use the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling?

President Joe Biden on Sunday said he believes he has the legal right to invoke the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling but does not have the time to do so.

www.reuters.com

 

[Brihaha]

It seems the stock market may force our government to obey their oaths and do their jobs for the American people. We as an electorate certainly do not force them to do their jobs at the ballot box.

One (uncomfortable) way to end the debt-ceiling standoff

If politicians don’t listen to the CEOs and economists telling them to hurry up and resolve the debt-ceiling crisis, a more formidable master may intervene: the stock market.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

It seems the stock market may force our government to obey their oaths and do their jobs for the American people. We as an electorate certainly do not force them to do their jobs at the ballot box.

One (uncomfortable) way to end the debt-ceiling standoff

If politicians don’t listen to the CEOs and economists telling them to hurry up and resolve the debt-ceiling crisis, a more formidable master may intervene: the stock market.

finance.yahoo.com

Well, we have passed this way before. And we have felt this pain before.

 

[HTacianas]

Scholars are saying that the 14th Amendment requires the U.S. to pay its debts.





This is really interesting...and yes, I'm sure it would go to the Supreme Court, but except for the two most extreme, would the Supreme Court really want to set off an economic cataclysm by ruling in favor of the dissenters?

Could Biden use the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling?

President Joe Biden on Sunday said he believes he has the legal right to invoke the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling but does not have the time to do so.

www.reuters.com

Biden could avoid a default by simply negotiating.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

Biden could avoid a default by simply negotiating.

I think the President AND Congress should work together.

 

[HTacianas]

I think the President AND Congress should work together.

They should. But this is yet another case of the story being some Republican is arguing with himself and we're going to default. It's silly. The Federal budget is my single most important issue. That's because I want my son to have a country to live in. That means I will always side with whomever wants to reduce the Federal budget. But most times it's all for show and nothing ever becomes of it.

 

[iluvatar5150]

They should. But this is yet another case of the story being some Republican is arguing with himself and we're going to default. It's silly. The Federal budget is my single most important issue. That's because I want my son to have a country to live in. That means I will always side with whomever wants to reduce the Federal budget. But most times it's all for show and nothing ever becomes of it.

Republicans don't want to reduce the budget. They want to use the opportunity to put on a show and throw some red meat to their base. If they truly cared about reducing the budget, they would have done so when they had power, like the first two years of the Trump administration, when they had the White House and majorities in both chambers of Congress.

 

[hislegacy]

Biden could avoid a default by simply negotiating.

Absolutely yes - a good President reaches across the aisle to negotiate the best for the American public - let's find out if we have a good president.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Scholars are saying that the 14th Amendment requires the U.S. to pay its debts.

What they should do is not run up debts that they know they will not be able to pay... and then invoke the 14th to try and force the taxpayers to pay them anyways. Or even worse, raise the debt ceiling (again) to the point where it will beyond our ability to pay it. It is irresponsible to say "we can spend as much money as we want, and then force the people to pay it." Unfortunately the voters have been dummied down so far that they are unable to vote in accordance with this concept. They will wake up one day with a crashed economy, a worthless dollar, and no job and look around stupidly wondering what happened. Unfortunately, it will be our children who end up paying this. Look at your kids and smile and thank them that we are living high on the hog, on their dime.

 

[wing2000]

Biden could avoid a default by simply negotiating.

...sure....during budget negotiations (which would have occurred last year if we had a Republican party interested in governing).

 

[wing2000]

Historian Heather Cox sets the context for the 14th Amendment. Last year, the budget was already passed as law....


The fourth section of the Fourteenth Amendment reads: “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.”

This statement was a response to a very specific threat.

During the Civil War, the U.S. Treasury issued more than $2.5 billion in bonds to pay for the war effort. To make those bonds attractive to investors, Congress had made most of them payable in gold, along with their interest. That gold backing made them highly valuable in an economy plagued by inflation "

Read the rest here....

May 2, 2023

The end of the semester is always rough and I’ve had too many long nights, so tonight I am going to offer just one explanation about the debt clause in the Fourteenth Amendment: The debt ceiling crisis continues to dominate the news, with some speculation now that White House officials are...

open.substack.com

 

[Fantine]

Biden could avoid a default by simply negotiating

 

[Fantine]

With MTG, Boebert and Gosar pulling the Speaker's strings, fat chance.

These debts have already been incurred (much more in the Trump than in the Biden years, BTW.)

Threatening to be dishonorable without future concessions is dishonest.

They are balking at Biden's deficit but passed Trump deficits that were twice as high.

 

[Fantine]

Wing 2000, as Richardson said in the end, lawmakers of yesteryear had too much integrity to dismantle the government and default on debts.
So if today's 217 House members lack the integrity to pay debts already incurred, Biden must intervene.

 

[Postvieww]

These debts have already been incurred (much more in the Trump than in the Biden years, BTW.)

You left out one little “Covid” fact.

 

[wing2000]

You left out one little “Covid” fact.

It's fair to exclude COVID spending and lost revenue due to the downturn. However, we didn't hear any spending protest rom Republicans prior to COVID during the Trump administration.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

My brother and I share a checking account. I went out and wrote a bunch of checks that exceed the balance of the account by thousands. My mean old brother refuses to take money from his private account to prevent our shared account from being overdrawn.
Who is in the wrong here?
It is foolish to over-spend and then when the bills come due blame someone else for not coming up with the money to make good your debts.
You know they do this on purpose. They know you will have to come up with the money else you will be the bad guy who does not pay his bills.
I say let it default. They need to break out of this bad habit.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Wing 2000, as Richardson said in the end, lawmakers of yesteryear had too much integrity to dismantle the government and default on debts.
So if today's 217 House members lack the integrity to pay debts already incurred, Biden must intervene.

Wrong. It is the entire government who overspends and then expects the taxpayer to come up with the money to bail them out.
Hint... Don't overspend and you will not have to worry about defaulting. It is like holding a gun to their head and saying "pay for our overspending or we will let it default and it will be your fault."
Extortion.

 

[essentialsaltes]

My brother and I share a checking account. I went out and wrote a bunch of checks that exceed the balance of the account by thousands. My mean old brother refuses to take money from his private account to prevent our shared account from being overdrawn.

It's more like

My brother and I share a checking account. I went out and wrote a bunch of checks that my brother explicitly authorized that exceed a total limit set arbitrarily by my brother. My mean old brother refuses to raise that arbitrary limit to accommodate the spending he authorized.

 

[durangodawood]

Wrong. It is the entire government who overspends and then expects the taxpayer to come up with the money to bail them out.
Hint... Don't overspend and you will not have to worry about defaulting. It is like holding a gun to their head and saying "pay for our overspending or we will let it default and it will be your fault."
Extortion.

So vote for representatives who wont overspend. (Thats neither D's nor R's tho.)