Below is a slightly modified version of my column in The Hill on the call of Democratic members for President Joe Biden to circumvent Congress and simply raise the debt limit unilaterally. It is more than a flawed constitutional theory. It is an abandonment of the core premise of our constitutional system that each branch would jealously protect its own institutional interests and powers. It is reminiscent of when Democrats applauded wildly when President Barack Obama told them that he was going to circumvent Congress entirely after it refused to approve his immigration and environmental legislation. They were applauding their own institutional obsolescence. I called it a constitutional tipping point and now Democrats are asking to be effectively stripped of their core power over the purse.
Here is the column:
Roughly 25 years ago, many of us were shocked by the discovery of a home full of bodies of dozens of people laying in bunk beds, wearing jumpsuits and identical black-and-white Nike Decade sneakers. They were the members of the Heaven’s Gate cult who, with their leader, drank a lethal mix of phenobarbital and vodka to gain entry to “Heaven’s Gate” with the passing Hale-Bopp comet.
Few of us could understand how rational people could believe their leader that it was necessary to shed their earthly bodies to gain access to an orbiting alien space craft. Few would buy such a pitch, but these people did. Some of the men even castrated themselves as a sign of their faith.
This week, Heaven’s Gate came to mind as I watched members of Congress line up to take a step that runs against every assumption of self-preservation in Madisonian democracy: They sought to make themselves nonentities. They called upon President Joe Biden to reject their very institutional existence, discard the separation of powers and unilaterally borrow and spend federal money.
At one event, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a letter to Biden on behalf of himself and nine Democratic senators “to urgently request that you prepare to exercise your authority under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.” He was joined in this by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), among others.
Obviously, these are not Nike-wearing cultists, but that only makes their actions all the more inexplicable. These are rational leaders whose desire to nullify their own existence would have seemed entirely implausible to the Framers.
A presidential “power of the purse,” however, is a fiction, only marginally more credible than the Hale-Bopp comet’s power to whisk human souls away into space.
Their argument for it is based on Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, which states, “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 drafters of this amendment did not want Congress to simply dismiss its obligations to pay off the Union’s debts from the Civil War. Although the amendment is not limited to those debts, it has nothing to do with debt ceilings set by Congress. Default, after all, is not a denial of the validity of debt, but rather a refusal or failure to pay debts in time despite their validity.
Courts have long left it to the political branches to work out such differences in what is often a game of chicken with default. Moreover, as University of Virginia law professor Saikrishna Prakash recently pointed out, there is more than enough federal revenue coming in each month for Biden to avoid default by paying the interest on the debt under existing federal law. That may cause temporary problems for other spending priorities — acute problems, even — but it hardly rises to the level of a constitutional crisis.
Instead, these senators are suggesting that a president does not need congressional approval to borrow and spend trillions of dollars, even though the Constitution explicitly grants both of those powers to Congress alone. They also claim that, by demanding budget cuts as a condition of permitting further borrowing, the House is violating the 14th Amendment.
Of course, the Republican-controlled House views it differently. It has agreed to raise the debt ceiling if Biden reduces future spending. Keep in mind that the House was responding to a crippling deficit that increased by nearly $1 trillion in the first seven months of fiscal 2023.
The House was also responding to billions spent without congressional approval or support. That includes hundreds of billions in student debt forgiveness that Biden knew he could not get through Congress. Instead, he ordered it unilaterally.
So who is obstructing the payment of the debt? The White House could conceivably find a judge willing to intervene in a classic budget battle to give President Biden such unconstitutional authority, but it is unlikely to be sustained on appeal. And that may not matter. President Biden has previously taken actions that he admitted were unlikely to “pass constitutional muster” but believed “at a minimum, by the time it gets litigated, it will probably give some additional time while we’re getting [billions] out to people.” Yes, he said that publicly.
Biden is not the first president to disregard legislative authority. But these members of the legislative branch are beseeching their leader to ignore them and their constitutional authority. Indeed, the most important power given to Congress under Article I is the “power of the purse.” It was the ultimate control over government. Whatever entanglements or commitments a president may seek, he must ultimately get the Congress to go along.
George Mason captured that intent when he declared that “no branch of government should ever be able to combine the power of the sword with the power of the purse.”
This purported 14th Amendment loophole would reduce the separation of powers doctrine to junk bond status.
Barack Obama previously rejected this theory and said that Congress had to give him the authority to raise the debt limit.
Despite the contrary views of Obama and a host of constitutional law professors, President Biden appears emboldened by the idea. He recently made a public promise to Democrats that, while he was willing to negotiate with the Republicans, he would not agree to “anything of any consequence.”
Biden said that his support for this novel theory is a familiar name: Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe. When Biden announced that Tribe assured him of that he could act unilaterally, some of his White House counsel must have crawled into tight fetal positions.
It was Tribe who previously advised Biden that his Administration could reestablish an national eviction moratorium that the majority of the Supreme Court clearly viewed as unconstitutional. (It allowed the moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expire since it had only days left). Biden then cited Tribe in calling for CDC to reimpose the moratorium . Biden admitted that his White House counsel and their preferred legal experts told him that the move was likely unconstitutional. However, he listened to Tribe at the urging of then Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It was found to be unconstitutional for obvious reasons.
Madison believed that, despite party or ideological affiliations, “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” He established a tripartite constitutional system where checks and balances would prevent the concentration of power in any one branch or in any one’s hands.
Whatever ambition is exhibited in this latest effort, it is far removed from the institutional interests that Madison hoped would prevail over partisan interests.
Yet members are lining up for this opportunity to gut Article I, negate their own power of the purse and create an effective government not only by one branch but by one man. It is a remarkable moment. They would be destroying Congress by their own hand — and Biden didn’t even have to give them new pairs of Nikes.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law for George Washington University and served as the last lead counsel during a Senate impeachment trial. He testified as a witness expert in the House Judiciary Committee hearing during the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.
There are so many non-vital programs the could be trimmed or cut that this should not be an issue. If the excuse is that the Administration is trying to carry out implementation of legislation by Congress, then Congress could also just re-legislate. Raising the limit isn’t the only solution. The missing component is that most in Washington do not have the actual intention to be fiscally responsible. This is what needs to be called to task. Their trick is to divert everyone’s attention to something else. Typical con.
Political Theatrics (Diversion from Durham Report & House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.))
U.S. Debt Rises Irrespective of Who Is in the White House
https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/1505.jpeg
Deception is Safe and Effective!
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Biden is confused by the 14th Amendment. Unbeknown to him and much to the chagrin of his followers the amendment limits his power, not one that enhances it. Section 4 of the Amendment says that the “validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law . . . shall not be questioned.” This means Biden’s Treasury cannot just dismiss debt held by the public as issued in Treasury bonds, bills, and notes. Instead his Treasury must prioritize debt repayment and curtail federal expenditures once federal expenses exceed federal revenue. In other words, Biden can’t willfully default even for a time without violating the 14th Amendment. He is constitutionally obliged both not to allow the nation to default and to live within the means Congress provides. It’s on him to negotiate a deal to raise the debt ceiling and slow future spending growth.
Ron A. Hoffman, it should come as no surprise to you that you don’t pay attention. Biden is not seriously considering using the 14th amendment. He’s skeptical of the theory and is clearly reluctant to consider it as a credible option. The only people saying he is thinking about it are those who are putting words in his mouth.
Biden has no need to consider testing that theory. Republicans have no real leverage in these negotiations. All they have is defaulting because they chose not to compromise. McCarthy is ‘not allowed’ to compromise according to the nut jobs in the “freedom caucus”. They are the real danger to the nation’s economy, because they don’t understand what is really going to happen and they don’t care. All they care about is the ‘victory’ of having met all their demands.
Republicans have sent a bill to the Democrat controlled Senate to raise the debt limit. The Democrats are the party of default.
Ioiwan 2: NO. If there is default it will be default of expenditures already approved by Congress, and Republicans will be the cause. They know that their base doesn’t even understand this basic fact–they are toying with Veterams’ Benefits, grants to schools, food stamps, etc–already approved by Congress–in order to get cuts for a future budget. They won’t even consider making wealthiest corporations and individuals pay their fair share by rolling back the tax cuts that are helping to drive the deficit.
Gigi; (typing slow now) Republicans have passed legislation to raise the debt limit. (not a single Democrat agreed to raise the debt limit)
The Republican :House passed this legislation that tied raising the debt ceiling to massive cuts mostly benefitting the most-vulnerable. They KNEW it wouldn’t pass the Senate and that Biden would veto it. Just more BS alt-right talking points.
Gigi, Republicans passed legislation to raise the debt limit.
Legislation to raise the debt limit WITH STRINGS that they know won’t fly.
Your margins is showing your….
McCarthy is trying to force the US to renege on expenditures already appropriated by Congress by leveraging the budget for the future. Republicans refuse to even consider rolling back the Trump tax breaks for the wealthy, which would solve the problem 25% of the national debt is due to those tax cuts. And, what’s on the chopping block for Republicans? Benefits for the most-vulnerable in our society, about whom they could care less. There is a process for negotiating the budget in the future. Trying to force the US into default is not the method. They never even considered doing this when Trump was in office. Now, Trump is pushing for them to allow default. When he was asked about this at the fake “CNN Town Hall”, Trump said he wants the country to default on its debt now because he’s not in office. This is rich coming from someone who can’t even successfully manage his own debt without constantly borrowing money, and who has stiffed his creditors many times. The expenditures approved by Congress reflect the will of the American people. Vote out these losers–your country depends on it.
McCarthy is trying to force the US to renege on expenditures already appropriated by Congress by leveraging the budget for the future
Republicans have passed a bill to raise the debt limit
It seems you are convinced Biden cannot use the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling. That is prudent of you to think so and reasonable to acknowledge. Where you are being inattentive and even thoughtless, however, is not recognizing who the actual “nut jobs” are. The real “nut jobs” are Laurence Tribe who has told him the 14th Amendment is a viable and constitutionally worthy option, the 10 senators who sent a letter to encourage him to that effect, and all other progressive extremists to whom Biden has enslaved himself.
If Biden even remotely understands the gravity of his situation, he will come to an agreement recognizing that a default is his alone to own. Everyone, especially his White House handlers, understands where the buck ultimately stops.
I’m not “convinced” of anything other than just how evil and hypocritical Republicans are. I didn’t “acknowledge” anything. Laurence Tribe is the most-respected Constitutional scholar we have–he has been an advisor to multiple presidents. He has taught Constitutional Law at Harvard, and multiple federal and state court judges were his students. What are Turley’s creds? Working for the hate network, dutifully following his assignment list to trash Democrats, trash mainstream media, ignore Trump’s crimes and try to create credibility for the “Hunter Biden Scandal”. I truly and dumbfounded at either how stupid or devoted to the right you are when you try to claim that Biden does understand “the gravity of the situation”. As a member of Congress and VP under Obama, Biden has, for decades, successfully negotiated budgets and debt ceilings. Have you ever heard any REBPUBLICAN member of Congress say that Biden doesn’t understand what’s at stake here? Republicans are desperate to do something, anything, to try to topple the successful economy Biden resurrected from the ashes of the disaster known as “Trump” because they need some way to attack the success Biden has had. If the US defaults and we go into recession, it will be the fault of REPUBLICANS. Eventually payments for Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security, Veterans’ Benefits and other programs will catch up, but what can NEVER be regained is the trust in the security of Treasury Bills, considered the most-stable, prudent and safest possible investment. That trust, once lost, can never be regained, and the value of T bills will always be lower than it would be but for this stunt of Republicans.
History offers a lesson that we should heed. The Roman Senate in order to curry favor from Caesar relinquished its power. No citizen could hold office without the emperor’s consent. As a result of this redistribution of power, the popular assemblies that functioned during the republican period became less important and lost power. While the assembly became virtually ceremonial, the Senate survived. Sadly it’s just a little bit of history repeating. Knowing how the story must end should we sit at home in the month of November in 2023.
David Lapan: “An important point about the debt ceiling debacle that’s often missed — consider all the wasted time & effort in federal gov’t agencies preparing for a potential disaster rather than doing their primary duties. Even if the crisis is averted, the negative repercussions remain.”
We wouldn’t be discussing whether Biden using the 14th Amendment is legal if it weren’t for the Republicans being willing to default.
Figures lie and liars figure. It is indeed true that the deficit under Trump did rise dramatically. I find it interesting that those who claim this fact leave out the part of a drop in tax revenue due to Covid shutdowns. Lets break it down to its simplest form. Lets say that you as an individual lost your job during Covid. Your debts would remain the same but your income would disappear. Therefore, your income versus debt would show that you are increasing your rate of deficit at a higher than normal rate. The California DEFICIT is 32 billion. The Florida budget has a SURPLUS of 13.5 billion in spite of Covid. Now somehow it is a sin to want to control the deficit. The Democratic answer to the dilemma is to suck more taxes out of the American people. The model that they want to use is the California model. If you can’t forecast your future under their plan then you don’t posses an ear to hear or an eye to see.
“Yet members are lining up for this opportunity to gut Article I, negate their own power of the purse and create an effective government not only by one branch but by one man. It is a remarkable moment. They would be destroying Congress by their own hand”
Democrats are doing this at the Federal level. Republicans are doing it at the local and state level with their push towards charter schools, which destroys the relationship between taxpayers and the elected representation that is supposed to determine the use of their tax dollars.
We the people let our country’s, our government’s, debt get out of control. We did not forbear the expenditures. We did not prevail upon our representatives to stop the spending, nor did we try to remove them from office for voting unwisely. We did not stop them from delivering fascist bailouts or voting for bad laws. We did not stop them from fighting bad wars hither and thither, reauthorizing bad policies for two decades at least. We did not prevail upon them to stop persecuting or arresting whistleblowers or journalists. Or stop the revolving doors between the government and corporations. Nor did we pay sufficient attention to laws and organizations affecting schools. Or pay sufficient attention to the quality and educational direction of our schools. We did not see them slowly turn our schools into economic engines rather than places to build wise future citizens. We got duped by liars and propagandists, fooled into believing their web of stories and we foolishly handed over tiny bits of freedom, emboldening those who love power.
Now they come for your hard-earned tax dollars to spend without recourse, without representation.
The vision of the Founders, this experiment in self-governing freedom in the form of a constitutional republic, is being threatened from within, by those who desire power, and it doesn’t really matter what “team” they’re on since both sides are playing against us, we the people.
Do we wish to be a free people or well-heeled serfs?
Do we wish to be a free people or well-heeled serfs?
7 Capital Virtues:
Humility, Patience, Kindness, Temperance, Diligence, Charity, Chastity
7 Deadly Sins:
Pride, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Lust ⬅️ WE ARE HERE
If you feel that way, why don’t you advocate ending the public school system?
I think the platinum coin option is a much more interesting question. I would love to see “textualists” like Gorsuch and Barrett squirm to find way out of finding a textualist rationale for not reading this provision as allowing Treasury to mint a coin any value it wants, in its discretion.
“(k) The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.”
The 14th Amendment argument is dumb, but a textualist would argue that a poorly drafted law that says X when it meant Y is irrelevant, when the language is unambiguous. Here, it is unambiguous but was obviously not intended to give a blank check to Treasury. I’d bring the popcorn to that one.
Fail Bopp
This is perhaps the best article by the Professor…..ever!
Simple, succinct, on point, and clearly meant to lay the wood to some shin bones!
Hand Salute, Sir!
Yet….these people remain in Office for decades and decades long past their time to retire and save us from yet more of their lunacy.
Those that got to keep sending them back to Congress or into the White House missed the celestial boat the Heaven’s Gate Loons sought to ride to salvation.
I find the symbolic nature of their self emasculation so similar to what is going on today amongst our friends on the Left even if it is only virtual and not actually physical.
We can’t have our Constitution eviscerated because a demented Biden chooses to believe an 81 year old retired Lawrence Tribe in spite of all the many legal experts telling him otherwise. Democrats are ultimately anti-US Constitution and would rather have a demented king Biden. This is insanity.
Yes! This is of self elected politicans. Control freaks or commies just the same!
Today’s WSJ editorial says that Biden would violate the 14th Amendment if he fails to prioritise debt service. This too is nonsense. A default does not question the validity of the debt. The editorial cites the 1935 case where SCOTUS said that the 14th Amendment precluded invalidating the gold payment clause. That was an instance of actually purporting to invalidate a financial obligation so is completely different from a mere default.
I opine that the case for invoking Amendment 14 is quite good. Congress said to do X and Y and Z and … but Congress didn’t raise enough money to do X and Y and Z and …
So what part of all this is the Prez to be faithless instead of faithfully executing the laws? Is it X or Y or Z or …? Since there isn’t enough money which is the fault of Congress. But the Prez also has to faithfully execute the 14th. And perform X *and* Y *and* Z *and* …
So invoke the 14th. The Constitution doesn’t say anything about Democrats and Republicants!
But the Prez also has to faithfully execute the 14th.
the Prez also has to faithfully execute the 2nd which you habitually denounce
See how that works?
Expert statistician huh? mmmmmkay
Biden is confusing the public because he is confused himself. Heck, he shakes hands with imaginary people, says his crack addict brain damaged son is the smartest person he has ever met, and his second wife insists on being called “doctor” with a plagiarized EdD. Nothing any Biden says is believable.
To wit
Federal tax receipts in March were $313 billion and interest payments were $67 billion, according to Treasury’s monthly report on revenue and outlays. In April receipts were $639 billion and interest was $62 billion. It would be the height of fiscal irresponsibility if Treasury failed to use that cash to meet U.S. contractual debt obligations. Mr. Biden and Ms. Yellen would also be violating the law.
WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/what-the-14th-amendment-really-says-debt-ceiling-biden-shut-down-default-constitution-78b24824
Biden’s handlers are doing what Democrats have done for decades: spreading misinformation purposely to stoke fear. That is all that got: lies and fear-mongering.
If anything the 25th Amendment Section 4, should be activated:
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Kamala Harris would last all of 48 hours before collapsing mentally. Speaker McCarthy would then be President
Estovir, you are most confused. I’ve never written a thing about the 2nd.
you have never written a factual thing about science either so there is that
Your dishonesty does not work anymore, David, regardless of your incessant preening
Estovir, that is simply false. For example, recently
PV = nRT
👍👍, Estovir. Well said.
Estovir: My god are you delusional! You accuse Biden and Democrats of being liars? Really? The leader of your party is the most notorious liar in the history of politics. You accuse Biden of being mentally deficient when your hero steals classified documents, lies about returning them, lies about being told that the couldn’t mentally “declassify” documents, brags about assaulting women, gets a jury verdict against him for sexual assault, colluded with Russia to cheat his way into office, and started an insurrection to try to steal a second term? Here’s a clue: he lives in a pretend world in which he is wildly successful, desirable to women, admired by men, a self-made boy-wonder billionaire who is a “very stable genius…in astonishingly good health”. In reality, he is a fat, bald man famous for consuming a poor diet, who is aging poorly, with a terrible reputation for cheating people, for being a chronic liar, for being a misogynist, racist, xenophobe, and for bankrupting 6 businesses, in addition to those that just failed. He’s been sued thousands of times for refusing to honor his financial obligations. His malignant narcissism prevents him from perceiving reality, like the fact that most Americans, and most people on earth, for that matter, think he’s a clown, a flashy, braggadocious attention hog who likes to pretend he’s successful and wealthy, but is really deeply in debt. Kamala Harris was an Attorney, a Prosecuting Attorney, a District Attorney and Senator before becoming VP. She has more talent and skills for the job of POTUS than Trump ever could hope for. And you think she couldn’t run this country successfully? You live in a dream world of hate and alternative reality.
Well, since they didn’t even ask for Nikes, then you think they be all for the castration…….
Who are the other six aligned with Sanders, Warren, Merkley and Whitehouse in their quest to serve a dictatorship? Appealing to their “constitutional authority” is an exercise in futility for the Constitution itself is the very impediment they loathe the most.
The primary tactic of Democrats isn’t to convince people with diplomacy and reason, but to put 100% of their effort into finding ways to circumvent or cheat the system without facing consequences. It’s really sad that this is the state of American politics.
“President Trump came into office promising spending cuts and debt reduction, ….he has delivered the opposite….”
https://www.cato.org/blog/presidential-spending-update
Article is pre-Covis by the way. Can’t wiggle out of it with that excuse.
And look. The most fiscally responsible President of the last 4 was President Clinton……..followed by President Obama.
About all you can say for Trump is he was better than W.
Are you for fiscal Conservatism? I know I certainly am. Let’s see if the Republicans can nominate someone who is as well.
Stevej we are talking specifally about Article II of he Constitution.
Enumerated in Art.II is the soul power of Congress to spend money.
We can go back to Clinton…but the constitution would direct us to go back the Speaker of the house during that time frame.
Oh, the comment is off topic. Well, you got me on that one.
Incidentally, the President signs the budget into law. He can say he won’t. That is using political leverage. Certainly, you are not crediting Reagan’s budgets with Tip O’Neil.
Incidentally, the President signs the budget into law.
A law created 100% by the House of Representatives…… BECAUSE…? The Constitution states, ‘all spending shall originate in the House of Representatives’.
You know that’s all fine. But Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil gets ZERO credit for the reductions in government spending increases during the 1980s in any practical sense of the term. Zero. Zilch. Nada. It was all Reagan.
“You know that’s all fine. But…. ”
Everthing after the ‘but’, is all bovine excrement.
Well it’s not about the 14th amendment, which seems so straightforward as to be boring. This is an informal legal/political blog. People have made comments tangentially related to the articles before. The deficit and the spending problem causing it are in the article. So what'[s the big deal? Why raise a fuss? Unless you’re a Trumpy who doesn’t want to admit that Trump is a big spender and the Republicans can do better.
Clinton had a bunch of republicans in congress who were willing to work with him.
So did W. So did Trump. And Reagan did not.
I might add, in looking at table 1 of the CATO article fairly, you have to look at the preceding President and what next President inherited.
Reagan drastically reduced the rate of increase in government. What the Democrats laughably referred to as cuts. And by that same measure Reagan and Obama’s performances were excellent.
And Ws and Trump’s all the more unacceptable.
“The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.”
Ronald Reagan
When did you ever see W. or Trump say anything like that or spend any time or capital to fight for fisacl responsibility?
Hahahahhahahhahha. The Democrats wouldn’t even work with Trump when he was ready to give Dreamers amnesty. They rejected it. So for you to come here and lie about how they were willing to help him?? A joke. They were ready to help him get spied on by Obama and set up by the FBI for their soft coup. That is about ALL they would help him with.
I said Trump had Republicans to work with. So did Bush. That was clear by the comment I was responding to. And by that I mean Republicans had control of one or both Houses for large portions of their terms.
When I said Reagan did not, I simply meant the Democrats controlled both house for just about all of his term. Yet he was able to exercise his political clout to enact far more responsible budgets than Trump or W — who weren’t fiscally responsible in the first place.
“Obviously, these are not Nike-wearing cultists…”
I’m not so sure about that….
Why would you call any of those listed responsible people ? Are you on meth again ?
Democrats ARE the Authoritarians they keep saying Trump would be.
Over the past ten years the continuously growing national debt now nearing $32 trillion (https://www.usdebtclock.org/) has become the single biggest security threat the country faces, and one both political parties are called upon to resolve for the sake of future generations of Americans. Raising the debt ceiling has always been the too easy fix, but only when the gross domestic product (GDP) is at the very least equal to the debt, interest expenses are stable due to low interest rates, and inflation is kept at bay. Such is not the case now with GDP at only $26 trillion, interest rates rising, and inflation looming to be a permanent fixture for some time to come.
It is obvious the debt ceiling will need to be raised yet again, but this time the conversation must include the subject of decreasing federal spending. Credit the fiscally responsible for bringing the subject to the table. Damn the spendthrifts if they do not team up.
Ron A. Hoffman,
Well said.
Every time they (the government in general) has to fall back on The Fed and the printing press, the US accelerates towards economic collapse.
The rest of the world sees it. From our allies, to our friendemines, to our out right enemies. They are all trying to align and insulating themselves to keep as much of the mess off of them when the US economy falls. They are creating economic and banking systems outside of the US/West ones.
JT references Heaven’s Gate cult mass suicide. Here’s a video of Heaven’s Gate goodbye video.
Clue: Heaven’s Gate cult leader, Marshall Applewhite, revealed to his parents that he was homosexual, his father rejected him. Applewhite was a Democrat.
Same eyes as Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Adam Shifty Schiff and many other obnoxious tyrannical Democrats.