Congress has passed two laws that contradict each other: (1) the current budget which calls for spending in excess of the debt ceiling and (2) the current debt ceiling.
The current budget was passed after the last debt ceiling increase and with full knowledge (sic) that the current debt ceiling would be breached this year.
The President, as the officer charged by the Constitution to execute the laws should just follow the most recent law - the budget. The President should just ignore the debt ceiling. Congress clearly intended to spend the money and issue bonds to finance the deficit.
Obama bent over backwards (I'm being polite) to try and reach a debt ceiling deal that, effectively lets the Republicans renege on the deal agreed to in the current budget. But it hasn't happened. So the effective law should just be the most current law which is the budget.
He should start (if hasn't already) by having his lawyers draw up a "finding" to the effect that the most recent law is the precedent he should follow and drafting an executive order to effect this.
He can then deliver a speech saying -
This whole "debt ceiling" crisis has been a terrible distraction at a time when we should be working to create jobs and end the foreclosure crisis and lowering the banking speculation that are sapping our economy. Moreover the "debt ceiling" crisis has been manufactured by a radical wing of one party who are going back on the budget deal made last December.
So I have to act now to end this crisis. I will follow the most recent law Congress passed- the current budget; and I will ignore the "debt ceiling" since it is superseded by the current budget.
a. I tried to negotiate a fair long term deal but they wouldn't negotiate, they kept protecting the corporations and the super-rich (including me). Taxes on the rich are lower than they were under Reagan, under Nixon and under Eisenhower.
b. As a matter of economics, shutting down part of the government would halt the fragile economic "recovery" and send the economy back towards a recession.
c. the uncertainty created by the action I am taking - which some may deem high hatted and even try to impeach me - is not nearly as great as the uncertainty that would be caused by an unnecessary default engineered by partisan attacks on my administration. I tried to avoid this smaller uncertainty, but ultimately was unable to do so.
So I am acting now to end this crisis so that we can work on creating jobs and getting our economy growing again.
d. So I'm willing to negotiate a long term deal, but this whole fake crisis has been engineered by a party that extended the debt ceiling 7 times under my Republican predecessor. Six months ago we agreed on a budget and now they are trying to change it unilaterally. Its time for us to take two weeks off and then reconvene to work on a long term solution at that time.
e. So I've had to choose between two laws passed by Congress and I am following the most recent. Its best for the stability of our business environment, its best for creating jobs, its best for the country, and its best for the world economy.
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The debt ceiling "issue" is not really a 14th amendment question. Its a political issue, and a manufactured one at that. The President just needs to follow the most recent law on the books. (Still his lawyer ought to ready some 14th Amendment arguments as they will try and sue him and impeach him if he does this).
Then if Obama gets past this hurdle he can then stick to his guns(if he brought any) and get revenue included in the deal. And by acting decisively he might loosen the Tea Party's grip on Republican leadership.