MILLION FAX MARCH ACTION PAGE: The President Can And Must Invoke 31 USC 3102 To Pay Our National Deb

[babsbunny]

http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1082.php

MILLION FAX MARCH ACTION PAGE: (sends e-faxes for you, just submit the form)

The President Can And Must Invoke 31 USC 3102 To Pay Our National Debts
There has been some talk that the President can act unilaterally to raise the nation debt limit based on Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides in pertinent part that "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law . . . shall not be questioned". The argument has been made that since Congress has ALREADY authorized BY LAW each obligation represented in the national debt, by appropriating the funds for various expenditures, any overall "debt limit" is artificially redundant. It would be like writing a bunch of checks and then refusing to deposit the funds in your account to cover them. While a constitutional challenge of the debt limit law may be a defensible argument in the spirit of the 14th Amendment it is not unequivocally compelling, as the 14th Amendment does not expressly authorize what proponents are asking the President to do.

With this context, it is astonishing that apparently nobody has bothered to read the text of Public Debt Law of 1941 itself, embodied in 31 USC 3101, which is what codifies a national debt limit. That law states that

"The face amount of obligations issued under this chapter and the face amount of obligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the United States Government (except guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary of the Treasury) may not be more than . . . "

Please take careful note of the words "EXCEPT guaranteed obligations held by the Secretary of The Treasury". By undeniably clear law as passed by Congress, such obligations are NOT constrained by any so-called debt limit. Now all you have to do is run your finger down to the very next section 31 USC 3102 and you will read

[gateley]

1. I would think he's got plans in the wings should this come to a default,

although I DID hear that they were planning what to do in case of a default which doesn't indicate a rabbit being pulled out of a hat at the last minute.

BUT, as a DUer noted, Obama wouldn't be blabbing about any contingency plans at this point since they do want a bill that passes.

Is this just bizarr-o or what!?!?!

[jtuck004]

2. Fax Machines Clubbed By DC Police, Film at 11. Somehow it just doesn't have the same impact,

especially if your goal is to call attention to the cause.

:)

Pass the cuts or let the deadline pass, we are talking about taking trillions, which provide demand, out of an economy that has a desperate need for demand. Unless a new effort is made, the next 20 years will bring us the replacement of millions of additional jobs with low-wage jobs, and an additional 5 to 7 million more homes still in the foreclosure pipeline.

Either of our two considered options, without other actions, will damage our economy, and our spirits, one with an agonizing slowness. Having the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, and implementing a program which creates demand with a dedication to innovate toward a better future is the only way up.

[drm604]

3. K&R

:kick:

[onenote]

4. As explained elsewhere, this isn't an option

Folks ought to get a hold of themselves. If it was this easy, it would have been proposed by someone in government. After all, there are members of Congress pushing the 14th Amendment strategy. But notwithstanding the breathless prose of a bunch of bloggers, citing statutory language without context or a clear understanding of the statutory language, its not a "solution" as was explained in the following thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x727972

The gullibility of some here has long stopped surprising me, although it continues to dismay me.