Mr. W. was telling me about
this (literally) Clintonian argument that the President can simply ignore the debt ceiling on 14th amendment grounds.
The provision in question, Section 4 of the amendment, was meant to ensure the payment of Union debts after the Civil War and to disavow Confederate ones. But it was written in broader terms.
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,” the critical sentence says, “shall not be questioned.”
Clinton says were he in Obama's shoes, he'd simply ignore the ceiling and the Congress & dare the courts to come after him. Highly dubious proposition in the first place, but before he gets carried away with the notion that Congress can be bypassed on this question, Mr. Obama should perhaps be warned to read on to the next section of the amendment:
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Nice try.
