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The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

The absolutely idiotic suggestion that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution can be used to invalidate the power of the purse, which the Constitution invests solely in Congress is just one more step down the road to a completely lawless republic ( in name only) whose governing document can be ignored, manipulated, tortured and otherwise destroyed in service to craven political goals.

Democrats pressure Biden to ready 14th Amendment for the debt ceiling

Biden previously kept the use of the 14th Amendment on the table, but cautioned it would likely "be litigated and in the meantime, without an extension, it’d still end up in the same place." Biden has also repeatedly underscored that default is "not an option."

The 14th Amendment stipulates that 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.” However, the Constitution also grants Congress the power of the purse.

A growing number of progressives such as Sanders appear nervous that Biden may cede too much during deliberations with Republicans as his team reportedly mulls over concessions on spending caps and considers some work requirement options.

Initially, the White House was adamant that a standalone debt limit hike bill was non-negotiable. However, Biden's team has held discussions with Republicans about spending reforms.

Backers of using the amendment argue that it can nullify the debt ceiling altogether.

Parse the damned thing! The 14th Amendment says nothing about future spending, only that the debt incurred by the United States is valid. There are oceans of revenue available to pay the debt...the issue is the ongoing costs of The Leviathan. That can be cut significantly in a financial crisis so that the 14th can be honored both in spirit and in fact.

But the issue is not the debt; the issue is the continued explosion of federal spending to remake America into a dependent, socialist hellhole.

Lewis Carroll knew exactly what was going on!

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

But for the purposes of argument, let us grant an expansive interpretation of the 14th Amendment. Observe the portion of section 4!

Section 4

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.

That suggests that debt incurred specifically to damage the interests of the United States shall not be honored, which means that all spending on funneling illegal aliens into the heartland is null and void; that spending on objectively insane military policies in furtherance of Woke initiatives should be canceled; that the destruction of our domestic energy production and funding of unproven and hugely expensive "green" technologies are illegitimate uses of our tax dollars...

And there's more! The Constitution vests the power to enforce this specifically in Congress, and not the executive. So even if a compliant federal court found that the 14th Amendment applies, it is the purview of Congress...not ersatz president Biden.

Section 5

The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Of course none of this will be needed. The uniparty will posture and pontificate and huff and puff, but in the end, we will have our debt limit raised in exchange for some trivial reductions in spending, which will kick the can down the road to insolvency for another few weeks or months.