Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. - Robert J. Hanlon, Hanlon's Razor.
Recently the debt ceiling talks have shown me that Malice is indeed a driving force behind the effort to raise the ceiling on the part of the "establishment" on both the right and the left in the US House and Senate chambers.
Proof: Rep. James Clyburn D-SC
"I've said time and time again, if the President gets up to August 2nd, without a piece of legislation, he should not allow this country to go into default. He should sign an Executive Order invoking the 14th Amendment and send that to all the governmental agencies for us to continue to pay our bills. He could do that with a stroke of a pen."
Evidence of Malice: The 14th Amendment as below:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4. 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. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The relevant portions of the bill are in sections 4 and 5. The executive branch is nowhere authorized to do anything with the 14th amendment. Indeed section 5 specifically states that "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
So, should this President or any other President attempt to "invoke" the 14th amendment he or she is 100% usurping the power of Congress and should be impeached, tried, removed from office and thrown in jail for an attempted coup. I'm not even exaggerating a little bit. On top of that the 14th amendment in no-way authorizes NEW spending. Section 4 exists to guarantee current debt lawfully incurred by acts of congress. No independent spending authority is granted.
Example 2: excerpted from a Mary Bruce blog on the ABC blog website. (link to full story at the end)
President Bill Clinton said that if he were in President Obama’s shoes, he would use the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling “without hesitation.”
Clinton told The National Memo’s Joe Conason that he would invoke the constitutional option and “force the courts to stop me” if “it came to that” and a deal could not be reached with Congress.
There are many more examples but this should suffice. Now in that same article the Obama White House denies that the 14th amendment usurpation isn't being considered at all (good), but rather the point is that this is being done as a test balloon. There is a purpose to these shenanigans. This is how they build up the public's tolerance for complete shiat before its shoved down your throat. It may not happen this time, or even with this President, but the idea is out there and it is very very tough to kill an idea.
I do believe I have proved Malice over Incompetence in this case. I mean what else would you attribute it to coming from an asshole like Clyburn and a disgraced/impeached President who had his law license revoked after being convicted of perjury. Gee I dunno. Herp Derp.
