Powers not Granted

To listen to Paul Krugman, this whole debt ceiling thing is a farce and Congress MUST raise the debt ceiling because the increase in debt is nothing more than the consequences of previous decisions by Congress with regard to spending decisions and taxes.

This is total BS. It sounds good on the surface but when you scratch below the surface it is total BS. The problem is entitlements. Entitlements are expenditures based on law. Follow the law and certain expenditures necessairly ensue. But law can only be changed when the President signs legislation that has passed both houses of Congress. This elevates greatly threshold for Congress to control entitlement related expenditures. To control entitlement related expenditures, Congress needs the approval of the President or be able to over-ride a veto.

This is not what the Constitution intended. The Constitution intended that the Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, have the strongest of controls over spending. As it now, given the nature of entitlements, this control has been lost because the hands of today's Congress are tied by the decisions of previous Congresses, something that was not intended by the Constitution.

Enter the Debt Ceiling. The Congress also has to authority to issue debt. This is the mechanism by which Congress can regain control over spending. Congress can say: this is out of control, we will not grant additional debt authority unless all concerned agree to appropriate revisions to entitlement law.

End of Story.

Except it is not. We have the entire leftwing conspiracy conspiring to come up with mechanisms, schemes, to by-pass Congress's authority in regards to the purse. Some call for Obama ignore Congress and issue new debt anyway based on an impossible reading of the 14th Amendment. Others are urging the Treasury to mint a $1T platinum coin, a proposal that is beyond rediculous.

It just shows how far this great republic has fallen that these proposals are gaining any traction at all!

Make no mistake. What these morons are proposing is not only fiscal irresponsibility but a huge concentration of power in the hands of the Executive Branch. This is by many order of magnitude beyond what the Constitution ever intended.

These morons are throwing away 200 plus years of Constitutional governance for nothing more than the ability to spend more. It's a gigantic equivalent of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of soup!