Clinton: I Would Ignore Debt Ceiling Law

Bill Clinton, the former president who knows a thing or two about unconstitutional and impeachable events, floated the argument this week that the debt ceiling itself is an unconstitutional law.

So what exactly is the great Bill Clinton plan to solving the debt ceiling debate? simply ignore the debt ceiling law, declare it unconstitutional, and dare the court system to overturn him. Well, why not? Ignoring laws he doesn't like and taking things to the Supreme Court is pretty much the Clinton MO, isn't it? “I think the Constitution is clear and I think this idea that the Congress gets to vote twice on whether to pay for [expenditures] it has appropriated is crazy,” Clinton said. And sure, in one view, it is crazy to say that Congress gets to vote multiple times on approving the same spending items (once during appropriations/budgeting and again by raising the debt ceiling). On the other hand, it's equally crazy for the President to unilaterally declare a law unconstitutional and beg the court system to stop him. That is madness...and this is not Sparta. I guess we can call this the Monica Compromise of 2011. Not exactly the stuff of Henry Clay, eh? At least this time he can keep his damn pants on. Republicans and Democrats had better get together and solve this fake, blatantly political, incredibly stupid "issue" of whether or not to raise the debt ceiling before any more has-been politicians weigh in with their brilliant schemes. Here's a thought: Pay your damn bills. Congress voted for this spending, each and every penny of it. The President, whether it was Obama or a predecessor, signed off on each and every penny of this debt. Fighting over whether or not to pay the bills is beyond any level of acceptable discourse. Want to cut spending? Write a spending cut bill and get it passed. Get a bill passed rescinding previous spending. Write a bill raising taxes. Start crossing future spending off the budget. Slow the growth of current programs. It's not like it's that hard to balance the budget.

. It takes the tiniest amount of political willpower, compromise, and acceptance of reality. I don't think most Americans realize what is happening with the debt ceiling debate, nor do they appreciate the seriousness of what is being proposed by some in the Republican Party. Ask one of your neighbors what declaring bankruptcy did for their personal finances. Ask them how easy it is to get access to credit, even years later. Ask them if they can even get a credit card for emergencies. Then, ask yourself, "Am I willing to pass on this difficulty to my children in order to score political points with Michele Bachmann." If the answer is yes, you lost the game. The fact that Bill Clinton is advocating ignoring the law and daring the courts to challenge him tells you one thing: the full faith and credit of the United States is not a political football to be played with it. It is not there for Republicans to score political points with fiscal conservatives. It is not there to help defeat Obama in 2012. Clinton would be willing to jump on a political grenade to save the economy of the United States. Don't make Obama do the same while pretending this debt ceiling debate is anything but a naked partisan play against the President.