Posted on 07/30/2011 11:08:06 AM PDT by John Semmens
As the prospects for a legislated agreement on raising the debt ceiling remain remote, demands for President Obama to take unilateral action are increasing.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md) suggested that “the president could use his authority under the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own. If Congress can’t agree on what’s right for the country, the President is empowered to go forward without their approval.”
Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC) maintains that “under the 14th Amendment, the president has broad authority to act for the good of the people in the event that Congress can’t or won’t.” In support of his contention, Clyburn cited Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
“President Lincoln had no Constitutional authority to free the slaves,” Clyburn pointed out. “In fact, the Constitution explicitly protected slavery. But he had a moral obligation to undo this blot on our nation’s history. A default on our debt would be another blot on our history. If Congress won’t take action to prevent it, it is the President’s moral obligation to do so.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) was even more strident in her characterization of Republican opposition to the President’s demands. “The secession Lincoln had to deal with was serious enough to warrant suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Today’s Republicans, though, are enemies of life on this planet. Measures that might be judged extreme under normal circumstances may be our only option.”
The section of the 14th Amendment the Democrats are saying empowers the President to raise the debt ceiling reads: “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.”
In related news, Representative Pete Stark (D-CA) called the whole debt ceiling debate “a charade. Look, at the end of the day the ceiling will be raised. It always has been. Too many people are counting on getting their hands on government money. The spending binge will go on until we go bankrupt. Then we’ll be forced to cut back. But until that day don’t expect anyone to stick his neck out for fiscal constraint. It just won’t happen.”
read more...
http://azconserv1.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/democrats-call-for-executive-action-to-resolve-debt-ceiling-crisis/
I remember that movie from 1971.
Surprised dems are recommending it....
Feelin’ the withdrawal symptoms.
Uuuuuhhh, you are going to have to highlight the satire parts, because this all seems to be true...what a mess!
Wow ,it is hard to see satire from reality anymore.
“We doe need no steekin’ Constitution!”
Um, the last section of the 14th names the body responsible for enforcement, Congress. “Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
Mike
Satire only works when a degree of truth is exaggerated. In this case the truth is too enormous. . .it cannot be exaggerated. I thought this was real. . .it’s too close to the awful truth. Can’t be satirized. . .because it’s “truth, stranger than fiction.”
Yeah, right. Ha Ha Ha
what they don't understand is that CC&B is what the country wants and needs.
"What we're trying to do is save the world from a Republican budget...we're trying to save life on this planet as we know it." Nancy Pelosi
The phrase that the DEMs CONVENIENTLY forget is ... authorized by law ...
The ONLY debt CURRENTLY authorized by law is the debt ceiling - and that MUST be authorized by Congress. The 14th Amendment IN NO WAY grants the President to raise the debt limit - ONLY that the current debt is valid and MUST be paid ...
Hugo Chavez rules that way.
Not how America works, commies.
WEre the shoe on the other foot,
And it were a republican thinking of ignoring the constitution to push their plans the libs would be going bonkers too.
Just shut the damn overly large inefficent fed gub mint down.
Go fishing.
Wow! So not enabling the US to accrue more debt is the moral equivalency of slavery? If Obama does not invoke the 14th Amendment to arbitrarily raise the debt ceiling, does that make him a racist?
We know who to blame for this generated crisis. Will we have the nerve and the stamina to come down hard on our new reps to prosecute these enemies within.
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