Once again the bozos in Congress and the Oval Office are displaying their ignorance of their responsibilities under the Constitution. There are rules but administering the government is not a game.
The shutdown is not about substance. It’s about political gamesmanship. In the past shutdowns were instigated by the party controlling the Congress but the President emerged as the winner.
This time it’s different. This shutdown was the “brainchild” of the spoiled brat in the White House. This time his opposition will “win.” It truth, everyone loses.
One would think that anyone going to all of the trouble to get elected or appointed to any federal office would read the Constitution. Perhaps a few have done more than scan it but, seemingly, none have made the effort to understand it.
We should all hope that somewhere within the Beltway there are 2 or 3 sufficiently intelligent to go beyond reading to comprehension. Let’s take a look and see what the Constitution requires.
The beginning of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment reads as follows: “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.”
In essence, lawful bills must be paid. Every cent owed by the government results from a law passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President. Simply speaking, the passage of a law involving the expenditure of moneys is sufficient authorization for paying that bill.
More than a century ago, Congress passed the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917. The only purpose of this law is to contravene the Constitution. Law vs Constitution; the Constitution prevails – no ifs, ands or buts. The only Constitutional limit on debt is the aggregate of all bills passed by Congress and signed by the President. The government is not permitted to pass a law for an expenditure and then claim that some other law prohibits paying that legal obligation.
Also, requiring employees to work without pay violates a whole raft of laws, both federal and state. It might be successfully argued that it is actual slavery.
To the Congress and the President: Stop the nonsense. Stop the game-playing. Abide by the Constitution, as you swore to do in your oath of office.
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Major thanks for the blog post. Really Great.