Responding to Dana Milbank's opinion piece ("President Congeniality Talks Tough") in the Washington Post this morning, "Navy-CTT" writes this comment:
For the below, even though I didn't write it, I've been called, "delusional". Law reviews often publish notions that are controversial, but rarely delusional.
Obama is walking into a box from which there may be no escape, creating e genuine and potentially seismic Constitutional crisis. That he keep walking toward it so blithely give justice to wonder if that isn't his intent.
“[I]f Congress were to authorize spending that exceeds tax collections by one trillion dollars in a year, at a time when the existing federal debt is only one-half trillion dollars below its statutory ceiling, then the president could not execute all three laws as written. Faced with that impossible choice, the president risks acting unconstitutionally no matter what he might do, because he will have failed to execute at least one duly enacted law of the United States. He thus faces a ‘trilemma:’ a choice between three bad options, all of which are unconstitutional.”
(COLUMBIA LAW REVIEW, VOL. 112 OCTOBER 2012 NO. 6 1175, ARTICLES, "HOW TO CHOOSE THE LEAST UNCONSTITUTIONAL OPTION: LESSONS FOR THE PRESIDENT (AND OTHERS) FROM THE DEBT CEILING STANDOFF," Neil H. Buchanan* & Michael C. Dorf** * Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School, and Senior Fellow at the Taxation Law and Policy Research Institute, Monash University. ** Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law, Cornell University Law School.)Building on this Columbia Law Review article, Justia published an analysis under its "Verdicts, Constitutional Law," blog page, under the title, "Why President Obama Could Easily Be Impeached Over the Debt Ceiling If Congress Fails to Raise It"
New to me... First I've heard of it. And, as John Dean, author of the article citing this Law Review article, acknowledges, there is a whole system in place which, though it's not a popular sector of our society, could put and end to this prospective impeachment.
John Dean was, of course, the well-known legal advisor to Richard Nixon. Since then, he has been going after Republican excesses to the point of calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush based on illegal use of wiretaps on American citizens. He's written a number of books, including (in 2007) "Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches." He writes, in support of President Obama, caught in a dilemma, that there is a way out.
Clearly, failure by the Republicans to raise the debt ceiling would be a wrenching headache for President Obama. But in the long term, it could bring an end to the radical conservatism of the contemporary Republican Party, because Wall Street, and other GOP money sources, will have suffered so deeply from such foolishness that I am confident these people will cut them off forever.
You are one of the best authors of legal articles I read during last year. Would you please write something to the section of legal articles on Attorney Online http://attorney-online.info/publ There is also an Attorney Directory where lawyers can submit for free their contacts. I hope to gather there all best US lawyers.
Posted by: Attorney Online | January 15, 2013 at 11:15 AM
Sure. But I charge pretty high fees.
Posted by: PW | January 15, 2013 at 01:04 PM