Over at Talking Points Memo is a report that Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is proposing to allow the President to raise the debt limit on his own, after notification of Congress. Sort of a Fiscal War Powers Resolution.
While this may make good tactical sense, it is bad strategy. In the long run this is the job of the US Congress. The more the Congress skips its own responsibilities, the more we inch away from representative government and inch toward tyranny. Not today, or next year or next decade, but eventually.
Hat tip to the Althouse.
Regards — Cliff
3 comments:
What requires a separate law on the debt ceiling? Congress has already budgeted and appropriated the money and the President has signed the bills. It is already the law of the land.
It seems like Lance has it right, the debt ceiling is an artificial barrier that is not independent of the cumulation of budgets. With the responsibility to pay the bills, the Executive branch has to ignore the debt ceiling, and only pay attention to keep spending within budget authorization.
From the two comments my take-away is that the people in DC are just plain stupid.
That isn't actually a revelation, but it is good to have confirmation.
I think Lance might have meant appropriated and authorized, but still, his point is interesting—my one caveat is that perhaps things like the interest on the national debt and social security payments and the like are fixed authorizations and thus operate without annual appropriations and authorizations.
But, as this link shows, not everything goes through an appropriation and an authorization. Contracts for Lockheed Martin and Raytheon do, but maybe not Social Security, since it is an entitlement.
Regards — Cliff
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