Robert Reich

My advice to Joe Biden on the debt ceiling: Ignore McCarthy and the Republican radicals.

Mr. President, your oath to uphold the Constitution takes precedence. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution has greater weight than the debt ceiling.

May 2, 2023 at 10:46pmWeb
Show threadPanamintMay 2, 2023
@rbreich Exactly. And this is why one doesn’t negotiate with nincompoops or terrorists; once you commence negotiations with such beasts, the nincompoops and terrorists will never stop being ideological morons or terrorists and always ask for more.
Show threadJames WellsMay 2, 2023

@rbreich
My understanding is that as the monies have already been spent, there is nothing that the house can do to stop the raising of the fictional device called a debt ceiling.

At the same time, the house, as it has the power of the purse can punish the president if he does choose to raise said fictional device.

And the 14th Amendment is quite clear that the validity of the public debt of the US shall not be questioned. Using the same logic here as those wack jobs use regarding the second.

Show threadDavid GerhartMay 2, 2023
@rbreich we are: hostages and serfs in the new feudalism owned by a small but increasingly wealthy fraction of citizens who thrive in gated separateness, at the apex of unfair systems of justice, healthcare and political power.
Blue collar folk exist in: Nauseating, endless depletedness.
Show threadEspinadaMay 2, 2023
@rbreich one day those mugs will be on wanted posters.
Show threadShelenn AyresMay 2, 2023
@rbreich I am not an attorney nor do I pretend to be one online, but it seems to me, as discussed during prior administrations facing an opposing majority party Congress, the US Constitution, 14th Amendment, Section 4 provides the Executive branch cover to pay debts beyond any statutory ceiling in order to prevent economic instability caused by politics. In other words, the Public Debt clause, as it has become known, mandates that all the government's financial obligations be met and that job falls on the Executive branch as noted in the US Constitution, not Congress. In a nutshell comparing it to personal and business financials, the US debt ceiling is a statutory goal for budgeting purposes but the US Public Debt must be paid. Biden must do what the Constitution requires.
Show threadBrent, in a jarMay 2, 2023
@shelenn Well said! The executive needs to do their constitutional duty. If Congress disagrees, they take the executive to court. I wish the mass media was able to grasp this simple concept, but 🙄
@rbreich
Show threadVHaschMay 2, 2023

@rbreich

The mean viking in me sorta wants to let them go ahead and blow it up, then sit back and watch them scream.

Might teach them a lesson. Not guaranteed, but possible.

Show threadRickMay 2, 2023

@rbreich "The strategy, hatched in January and kept under wraps since then, is designed to force a vote on a debt limit hike even over the objections of Republican leaders, who control the floor and are demanding trillions of dollars in spending cuts as a condition of preventing a default — cuts President Biden has refused to consider.

On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Treasury Department warned such a lapse could occur as soon as June 1, Democratic leaders ..." https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3984428-exclusive-nine-senate-democrats-say-solar-tariff-resolution-would-be-devastating-blow-to-solar-industry/

Exclusive: Nine Senate Democrats say solar-tariff resolution would be ‘devastating blow’ to solar industry

Nine Senate Democrats warned against a bipartisan resolution to resume tariffs on solar imports in a letter shared exclusively with The Hill. In the letter, set to be published Wednesday, the senators expressed support for President Biden’s two-year moratorium on duties for solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries. The House on Friday voted 221-202…

The Hill
Show threadideaPDishMay 3, 2023
@rbreich
It looks like they R;s just shattered the glass floor.
Show threadNate GorbyMay 3, 2023
@rbreich no one important is on here.
Show threadKevin Karhan May 3, 2023

@rbreich that's why every other place doesn't do that "debt ceiling bs" because it's archaic and makes the U.S. government worse to deal with than "private dictatorships" like KSA, Dubai or Brunei.

[not gonna do any business with them out of principle either, but they at least pay on time!]

Show threadDoug Baker - Elbows Up! 🇨🇦May 3, 2023
@rbreich What do they mean “threatening”?
Show threadDrtuckMay 3, 2023
@rbreich McCarthy caused it, McCarthy can stop it! Grow up McCarthy, grow up!
Show threadDiscerningHorseMay 3, 2023
@rbreich it’s kind of crazy that America plays this game of chicken with the economy every few years. I wish you all the best with it.