So what should Joe Biden do about debt limits now that the Republicans have filed a ransom note that says they will pay or kill the economy and blame you?
The most obvious and important thing about the Republican bill that passed the House yesterday with 217-215 support is that it barely addresses the financial issue itself. The cuts it proposes are aimed at the social and environmental policies enacted by past and present Democratic presidents and Congress. It aims to promote domestic manufacturing, which has already led to companies working to build factories to produce batteries for electric vehicles. The goal is to eliminate student debt. Medicaid and food stamp recipients are forced to find jobs and work long hours.
Biden, who participated in the Obama administration’s debt ceiling negotiations with Republicans that led to spending cuts that dragged the recovery from the 2008 crash for years, has made it clear he will never negotiate with the hostage-takers again. where do you put the For those not keeping a close eye on what is happening in Washington – many, and perhaps most Americans – it would be irresponsible for him to refuse to negotiate as the clock ticks to the possibility of a default. may look like Owned.
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To counter that appearance, Biden needs to speak to the American public more clearly and often than ever before. He said that agreeing to the Republican demands would clearly hurt millions of Americans, including Republican Americans, not to mention setbacks in efforts to combat the climate crisis. And he countered his own plan to raise taxes on the wealthy against the Republican plan to cut spending on programs that have broad public support. It is an argument he can win. And in crafting these cases, Biden needs every other elected Democrat on board.
But then? It’s something he has to say over and over again, but what does he do after he says it?
I believe the only way out of this amendment is to invoke the 14th Amendment added to the Constitution during Reconstruction. Languages are:
The validity of the public debts of the United States as authorized by law shall not be questioned, including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and rewards for services to suppress riots or insurrections.
Note that language affirming debts incurred by the government in waging the Civil War says it “includes” those debts, rather than being limited to those debts. Also note that although the 14th Amendment he enacted in 1868, Congress did not vote on allowing him to take on more debt until 1917. It has been subject to consideration.
By declaring that Congress will refuse to raise the debt ceiling, clear violation Given that it’s a 14th Amendment provision that automatically comes up no matter what Congress does, Biden would take the issue to the Supreme Court. If the judges are principled originalists and literalists of the text, they need to note that the Founders never thought of giving Congress the power to deny the debts of the new nation. or from any denial or default of an obligation. Of course, we know that the Supreme Court’s self-proclaimed originalists are actually partisan relativists, but that in itself is a case Biden and the Democrats can do if they want to.
Even before the courts rule, Republicans will argue that Biden is beyond his power. To do that, Biden will have to do many of the things I outlined above. Those of us who don’t want to see all of the social, economic, civil rights, and environmental laws enacted since 1935 repealed by Republican hostage-takers may want a stronger advocate than Biden. But hey, you go to war with the president you have.
