Tim Geithner: 14th Amendment Says Debt 'Shall Not Be Questioned'
by Ryan Grim and Samuel Haass
06/30/11
WASHINGTON -- At a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, President Obama was asked whether he believed that the debt ceiling was constitutional or whether the 14th Amendment required the government to meet all of its obligations regardless of the debt-limit statute.
Obama dodged the question. "I'm not a Supreme Court Justice, so I'm not going to put my constitutional law professor hat on here," he said about the debt ceiling and a question on the war in Libya.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, however, is less afraid of wearing that hat. At a Politico Playbook breakfast on May 25, Geithner was asked by host Mike Allen about the negotiations over default and the debt ceiling.
"I think there are some people who are pretending not to understand it, who think there's leverage for them in threatening a default," Geithner said. "I don't understand it as a negotiating position. I mean really think about it, you're going to say that-- can I read you the 14th amendment?"
Geithner whipped out his handy pocket-sized Constitution. Allen tried to brush it aside. "We'll stipulate the 14th Amendment," he said.
"No, I want to read this one thing," Geithner insisted.
"It's paper clipped!" Allen observed, noting that Geithner's copy of the Constitution was clipped so that it would open directly to the passage in question.
"'The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payments of pension and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion' -- this is the important thing -- 'shall not be questioned," Geithner read....
For the full article go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/30/tim-geithner-14th-amendment_n_887925.html
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Now wouldn't it be something is all this time Congress has been fighting over something that the Constitution says they have no say in. What's Bachmann going to do now, actually sit down and READ the Constitution she is so often claiming supports her positions?
OCU
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