Reply #47: 50/50 [View All]

[FreakinDJ]

I can post an equal number of links where Constitutional Law Professors are arguing the Debt Ceiling Law is Unconstitutional

Come Aug 3 - it is the Debt Ceiling Law that has provided the Constitutional Crisis and not the President's actions

This requirement is absolute. It is contained in Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment, which directs, in no uncertain terms, that "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."

http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/06/29/why-the-constitutional-option-on-the-debt-limit-makes-even-more-sense-today/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/14th-amendment-debt-ceiling-unconstitutional-democrats_n_886442.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/06/29/is_the_debt_ceiling_constitutional_.html

First, it does not simply say that the national debt must be paid; it says that its "validity ... shall not be questioned." Only one other section of the Constitution--the Thirteenth Amendment's proclamation that "either slavery nor involuntary servitude ... shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction"--is as unqualified and sweeping.

Second, it suggests a broad definition of the national debt: "...including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion."

From this language, it's not hard to argue that the Constitution places both payments on the debt and payments owed to groups like Social Security recipients--pensioners, that is--above the vagaries of Congressional politics. ... If Congress won't pay them, then the executive must.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/06/debt-ceiling-unconstitutional/39408/