re: #82 Obdicut

What the fuck about ‘the debt ceiling is raised to pay for debts already accrued by the US, and all spending bills originate in the House’ don’t you get?

The President can’t just go ahead and ‘spend’. The debt ceiling is raised to cover actual existing obligations incurred by congress, not by himself.

That congress would authorize spending and then refuse to raise the debt limit to pay for it is the fucked-up part. not Obama trying to honor the US’s debts.

I never said the debt ceiling should not be raised this time. But what is to stop some future president from honoring spending authorized by some future congress that a subsequent future congress chooses not to reauthorize? One basic principle of self govt is that no congress can lock in a future congress to future spending. With an infinite debt ceiling, any future president could veto spending cuts and carry on as tho the house did not exist.