No Debt Ceiling Fight?

I think this is a step in the wrong direction, but I give House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi credit for a creative approach to the US debt ceiling, which was so contentious last time we approached it.  This report, from Slate, is by Matthew Yglesias and can be found here.  Ms Pelosi suggested today that a statutory debt limit is "inconsistent" with the US Constitution, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment

She at first referred to this possibility obliquely while making a larger point about the lack of cooperative spirit between the Republican Party and the Obama administration but clarified her stance in response to further questions saying, "I would like to see the Constitution used to protect the country's full faith and credit."  She didn't offer a legal argument in favor of the position but argued on policy grounds that "you cannot put the country through the uncertainty" again, noting that America's sovereign debt was downgraded by ratings agencies in the wake of the standoff even though it was successfully resolved.

The thing is, it might work.  The supplemental question is, what then?  How will we rein in a growing public debt?

By Executive Order.

Regards  —  Cliff