On Jan. 11, a letter from Senate Democrats was sent to President Obama, arguing the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides Obama with the necessary gravitas to unilaterally raise the federal government's borrowing limit. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), in the letter, stated the president should not allow politics to raise the specter of the government defaulting on its obligations.
?You must make clear that you will never allow our nation?s economy and reputation to be held hostage. We support your view that an extension of the debt limit is not something for which Democrats should have to negotiate.? - Sen. Harry Reid, in a letter to President Barack Obama.
The president has gone from one crisis to another, with the fiscal cliff now replaced by the debt ceiling. Though he has options to attempt to resolve the matter and avert federal default, the road is strewn with risk. Along with Senate Democrats, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others have called on Obama to unilaterally increase the government?s debt ceiling, all justifying the action by citing a part of the Fourteenth Amendment.
?the validity of the public debt of the United?shall not be questioned.? - from Clause Four of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
However, this is merely a parsing of the amendment?s fourth clause which, when read in its entirety, can mean something very different:
?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. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.? ? Entire Fourth Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to U.S. Consitution.
In a CNN piece published the same day, Professors Neil Buchanan and Michael Dorf both publicly state that the president should raise the government?s borrowing limit on his own. However, instead of making a constitutional argument, they cite a move made by a president whom Obama styles himself after.
?During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln unilaterally suspended habeas corpus. Lincoln argued that if that decision was unconstitutional, it was nonetheless necessary to avoid a greater evil: violating his constitutional oath to defend the Union. Faced with a dilemma, Lincoln chose the less unconstitutional course.? ? Neil Buchanan and Michael Dorf.
Interestingly, both Lincoln?s action and the Fourteenth Amendment were the result of the Civil War, which every American regards as an extraordinary time in the nation?s history. But where Obama and Lincoln?s situations differ is that Lincoln?s action took place during the war, and the Fourteenth Amendment?s ratification followed it, that national crisis was one of actual armed conflict. Obama?s problem is the merely the end result of decades of fiscal mismanagement on the part of Washington politicians.
The president now finds himself on land littered with political landmines and tripwires. With House Republicans now openly willing to go for the political jugular, Obama could find himself staring down the barrel of a federal default. However, if the president decides to act unilaterally, it will likely set up a landmark legal battle over how the Fourteenth Amendment is interpreted. Even if the courts side with the administration, Republicans can point to their willingness to compromise on tax cuts and Democratic insistence on increased borrowing as a case of classic ?borrow and spend? liberal policies.
Washington politics appear to caught up to the president, with Obama in a true ?Catch 22? situation for one of the few times since first taking office. Like Lincoln, Obama now has to decide which decision is the lesser of two evils, and which political foot is he willing to sacrifice for the national good?
In a related matter, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), one of the most outspoken Republicans on the national debt, spoke to Business Insider while in Israel Thursday. During the interview, Paul made a statement which many agree is one of the clearest assessments ever of the situation and its root cause:
?Everybody is for spending cuts in the abstract, but then when you start naming specifics, people are like, 'No I won't vote for that because it's in my district or my state. It's a game ? we defer the pain, and we defer having the real guts.? - Sen. Rand Paul, in an interview with Business Week.
Though the federal government actually hit its borrowing limit on Dec. 31, 2012, a series of confusing, arcane, and perfectly legal accounting moves by the Treasury Department have kept things running status quo. However, outgoing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner admitted that this ?robbing Peter to pay Paul? strategy could only last through mid February. In an attempt to avert this showdown, Geithner proposed an annual automatic limit increase, administered by the president, in one of the opening fiscal cliff proposals. According to those in the meeting, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) laughed aloud at the concept, and the idea was shelved. With the cliff deal in the rearview mirror, Republicans on Capitol Hill have made no bones about their intent to turn the debt ceiling into the defining issue of the year.
The debt ceiling crisis has brought out all sorts of ideas, ranging from invoking the 14th Amendment to suspending non-essential programs until a deal is reached. Though all have ardent support, each also comes with serious pitfalls; using the 14th Amendment could spark a constitutional crisis, while a freeze on non-essential government spending could send the economy into a tailspin.
One idea seen as a "magic bullet," minting a trillion dollar platinum coin to deposit into the Federal Reserve Bank, carries with it potentially monumental risks. Though the Treasury has the legal authority to mint this sort of currency, many worry that doing so could damage the government's credibility and make it look like its trying to find an "easy out" to the current crisis, rather than addressing the root causes. With the Jan. 11 value of an ounce of platinum listed at $1,629, sovereign debt vigilantes could also argue the coin's worth to be derived entirely from the same fiat-based system used to value Treasury securities and the dollar itself.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/options-to-resolve-debt-ceiling-crisis-full-of-risk?cid=rss
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