To: mass55th
Bullcrap. The government sold Bonds, and use the proceeds to specifically finance WWII. That was a particular purpose.
That's not exactly true. The money from the Series E "War Bonds" went into the Treasury. It wasn't ear-marked for military purposes or any other specific appropriation--it just happened that the war constituted most of the budget at the time.
The money went into the Treasury, and the Constitution says Congress gets to decide where it goes from there. Per Article I, Section 9, "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."
The same would be true of thus GoFundMe money, if it was actually donated to the Treasury--if it's even allowed. If the money goes into the Treasury, then Congress has free rein on how it is spent, and has no obligation to listen to the donors. It could be routed to a special fund that was created in the 1990s (I think) to allow donations to pay down the national debt.
That said, Congress has authorized some agencies to accept donations, such as the National Forest Service and the Library of Congress. There's no reason Congress couldn't authorize CBP or the Corps of Engineers (whoever would be responsible for building the wall) to accept donations for the wall.
Unfortunately, the reason Congress won't build the wall has nothing to do with money, of course.
To: The Pack Knight
Thanks for the excellent explanation, history, and Constitution lesson. It’s greatly appreciated.
111 posted on
12/21/2018 11:01:49 AM PST by
mass55th
(Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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