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Stop the Wannabe Deadbeats, Pay Our Bills [1]

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Date: 2023-05-03  

I'm not gonna let you mess this up for me

My head spins when the subject of cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens comes up. Admittedly my economic knowledge and thoughts are limited to balancing my checkbook, but like everyone with elbows, I have a couple of opinions. More importantly, I have a bit of common sense. If I buy something on credit, I have to pay for it. I walk into a store, plunk down a dollar for a loaf of bread (okay, two), and walk out with my Wonder. I cannot explain to the cashier my worth in Crypto or NFT and expect to make grilled cheese later that evening for dinner. Having confessed my economic ignorance, I understand that poking a hole in the debt ceiling will eventually get us all wet.

If America blows through the debt limit deadline, you will pay more for a mortgage, car loans, and credit cards. Grandma’s and Granddad’s Medicare coverage and Social Security check are at risk. The inability of the country to maintain its credit rating and freely borrow money forces job losses, maybe yours. Let us say you do not own a home, drive a car, or would never sully your wallet with a devilish credit card, and your grandparents have left this mortal plane. What about the embarrassment of living in a country where its full faith and credit have been tossed in the waste bin?

President Joe Biden has a little-discussed option to meet the obligations of Congress to authorize paying America’s bills; Just Do It (thank you, Nike). Sure, it will lead to litigation, the Republicans in Congress would surely sue Mr. Biden, but he should welcome it. In a dispute between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, the issue is immediately sent to the Supreme Court for resolution. No 5th circuit or a lone judge in Amarillo will get their judicial robes ruffled, twisting their opinions to meet conservative donors. The next question is why I believe the current court’s composition would not be beholding to conservative donors—one such donor bought a home for a Justice’s mother. There may be one ace in the hole Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts is currently under scrutiny because of his wife’s financial activities, but Roberts also values his legacy. Roberts still feels the sting from conservatives who blame him for the continuation of the Affordable Care Act. Roberts finally responded to Donald Trump’s selfish and incessant critique of federal judges, saying, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

If Biden were to ignore Congress and honor the obligation of the United States, Roberts’ court could come face to face with the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Although there is some ambiguity in the language because it talks about including debts incurred against insurrection and rebellion, the 14th Amendment does not exclude other government financial obligations:

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.

If Roberts and the other conservatives on the court are the strict constructionists—they claim—he will push hard for his court not to be the one that authorized the default of the United States, throwing the world economy and his legacy into a tailspin. Recent decisions from the court lend themselves to reasonable doubt, but in this case, Roberts’ legitimacy is on the line.

Continue to Vote for Change

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/3/2167226/-Stop-the-Wannabe-Deadbeats-Pay-Our-Bills

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