14th Amendment: License to spend?

During the recent debt-ceiling circus, the Democratic Caucus of the House urged the President to veto any short-term debt limit increase that lands on his desk and to use the 14th Amendment (section 4) as justification to hike the debt-ceiling unilaterally. Former President Clinton also urged a unilateral approach, saying he would use the 14th Amendment to raise the debt limit if he were still in the White House. Likewise, the Treasury Secretary has been pushing for a unilateral solution for months. The premise here is that we would default on the debt if we weren't able to borrow more money to pay the debt, therefore the 14th Amendment requires that the President raise the debt-ceiling. The President actually considered this option, and all but ruled it out: _{[a] [b] [c] [d]}

“There is a provision in our Constitution that speaks to making sure that the United States meets its obligations, and there have been some suggestions that a president could use that language to basically ignore that debt-ceiling rule, which is a statutory rule,” Obama said last week during a town hall meeting. “I have talked to my lawyers; they are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.”

The premise of the "default" argument is absurd when you look at the numbers. The Federal Government will take in $172.4 billion in revenues this August, while interest payments are $29 billion. That leaves more than enough money to pay active-duty troops, veterans, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Nearly all other Federal Government spending would cease, however, but we were never in danger of defaulting on the debt. _[e]

In public, the President and nearly all of Congress proclaimed that we were in danger of default, yet privately, they were telling bond holders that there was no danger of default at all. It was just another "noble lie" spun by the elites, mere theatre meant for the gullible public. Every media outlet since (with few exceptions) has repeated the "default" lie and that the President can invoke the 14th as a last resort to keep the warfare/welfare machine going indefinitely.

Why should the President suddenly care about the law anyway? Top lawyers in the Pentagon and the Department of Justice told Obama his actions in Libya violated the War Powers Act, yet His Majesty simply overruled them and Congress too. What could an outraged Congress do about it anyway?  Amazingly, the House flatly and unequivocally refused to authorize the President’s war with Libya, but they agreed to continue funding it! As election season nears, what Congressman would risk alienating the military industrial complex? They need to refill those campaign coffers. _{[f] [g]}

What or who is there to stop Obama from doing the same thing with the debt-ceiling? As Bill Clinton suggests, just do it and let the courts or Congress try to stop him. Sadly, the President could probably get away with it because the Congress is weak, unprincipled and spineless, but perhaps no more than the people who elected them. This debt-ceiling debate has demonstrated that the populace is ready to believe anything and ready to give up any liberty so long as the money keeps flowing.

The Founders were adamant that the power of the purse and the power of the sword should never be in the hands of one man. If the President can initiate war at will and borrow money on his own authority, it will be the end of constitutional government as we know it. Today it's Libya, and perhaps Syria and Iran tomorrow. Once a war starts, who will stop it and who will dare not "support the troops?" _{[h] [i]}

Hyperbole? I don't think so. The 14th Amendment didn't stop FDR from defaulting on the debt that was accumulated from World War I, yet today the 14th is thought to give the President unilateral borrowing power under the pretense of an emergency. It seems that the Constitution means whatever the President and Congress want it to mean. This latest talk about the 14th Amendment is merely a trial balloon, a warm-up for the next "emergency" or undeclared, unfunded war. _[j]

References:

[a] House Democrats urge Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment in debt fight. The Hill.
[b] Tim Geithner: 14th Amendment Says Debt 'Shall Not Be Questioned'. Huffington Post.
[c] 14th Amendment, Cornell University Law School.
[d] Bill Clinton: I Would Raise Debt Ceiling And ‘Force The Courts To Stop Me’. MEDIAite.
[e] Debt Limit Analysis, Bipartisan Policy Center.
[f] Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate. NY Times.
[g] No Checks, No Balances: House Refuses to Authorize Libya War, but funds it. The Nation.
[h] Can the President Raise the Debt Limit Unilaterally? Hell no! 10th Amendment Center.
[i] In war-torn Libya, no pause for Ramadan. Washington Post.
[j] 1934: Ownership of gold is banned. FDR defaults on the debt issued to finance World War I, refusing to redeem it in gold. The dollar is devalued 40% against gold.