Can Biden raise the debt ceiling?

The uniparty in Washington D.C. continues to “negotiate” over the “debt ceiling” with a potential default by the United States government taking place June 1.

I don’t see it happening, but this entire topic is a beautiful example of the complete destruction of the original federal republic.

Let me explain.

First, if Biden governed the way the founding generation designed the executive branch, there wouldn’t be a “negotiation’ with Congress over the purse. Congress would pass a budget and as long as it was constitutional–even Republicans couldn’t pull that off–he would sign it. The President was not to use the veto as a legislative hammer and he has no power over the purse. Hamilton pointed this out in Federalist No. 69.

Second, most of the spending Congress and Biden wring their hands over is unconstitutional and should be decided at the State level. That is the beauty of federalism. The one size fits all government by the uniparty has created this unseemly mess.

Third, the Jeffersonians worried about the ability of the general government to borrow without restraint. They said so openly and then placed limits on such activity in the Confederate Constitution of 1861. If you want to understand how we arrived at a multi-trillion dollar hole, look to the 1860s Republican Party who spent money like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Fourth, Biden has no authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling. He has mulled using the 14th Amendment as justification, but even progressives think this is a stupid idea. That has never stopped them before, but I don’t see him following this path.

Fifth, neither party really wants to “cut” spending. Republicans want to throw trillions at the defense industry while Democrats want to spend your dollars on their pet progressive domestic projects, and Ukraine. The uniparty will always spend more money then they have on hand. That is modern politics.

Sixth, the Republicans will probably blink–so will Joe Biden–but I think if the government does “default” on the debt, the Democrats will be able to spin this as a Republican war on poor people. I don’t see a win for Republicans in this scenario even if Joe Biden also has his back against the wall leading into an election year. He doesn’t want to own a recession. High inflation, fine. A recession, no.

Where does this leave us? Thinking locally and acting locally. We still have the power at the State and local level, and more importantly in your own households, to ignore the uniparty in D.C. That would be the greatest gift of all.

I have not been Podcasting as much recently due to several other commitments, but I should be back to my regular schedule next week.

In the meantime, I cover the Biden debt ceiling fiasco on Episode 824 of The Brion McClanahan Show.