Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Fiscal Clifffff OmMiGodOhMIGodOhMiGod

Creskin Predicts....(Or is that copyrighted?)

No solution. The House and Senate will agree to extend the deadline until after the new congress is seated. Much acrimony and great gnashing of teeth, but no action. Maybe some action on the debt ceiling but even without an extension the US Treasury will act by executive order to increase the debt to cover legislative obligations.

Legal arguments to exceed the debt ceiling will point out contradictory legislation; Nixon era laws that obliges the Executive Branch to spend the money budgeted by congress and prohibiting executive sequestration, the other that prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from borrowing money beyond the debt ceiling without congressional approval. In other words, The President has to spend the money as laid out in budget legislation but may not borrow money to do it. Bad legislation, bad policy.

The United States Government has been operating on Continuing Resolutions for almost three years. This nominally violates several laws but in common law the legislature cannot be bound by its own laws.

Why has this occured? Because the House of Representatives was also elected. Not just the President. The House is the only source of legislation empowered to create legislation to raise revenue.

Update Nov 29
http://www.politico.com/story/2012/11/timothy-geithner-end-debt-ceiling-for-good-84428.html


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