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> The US government is constitutionally bound to pay its debts Since when? Please point me to the part of the constitution that says that.

by c3534l 8y ago

shaki-dora 8y ago
Since 17someting: Article VI > All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution. It requires a minimum of good faith, which you possibly lack. But it clearly implies that debt exists, and that it can be valid. The fact that valid debt is to be repaid is not clearly spelled out in the constitution, because the founding fathers did not believe there would ever be a time where idiot vandals trashed about requiring every minute detail to be proven from first principle.
- c3534l 8y ago
  That doesn't mean the government can't default on its debts, it means that the new government would assume the debts of its predecessor. Context from Wikipedia: > The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate following the War. Some States paid off their war debts and others did not. Federal assumption of the states' war debts became a major issue in the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention. As for the rest of your comments, I used to like it when HackerNews was somewhat civil.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  Art. VI only says that the US under the Constitution chose to assume the debts of the US under the AoC. What seems closer to what you want is the first part of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” (Which still, strictly, doesn't say the debt will be paid, only that it's validity will not be questioned.)
chadash 8y ago
Article 14, part 4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. To be fair, there has been some debate into how this is interpreted as far as the constitutionality of debt ceilings if they would cause the government to default on its debt. The US has always paid its debts, so the question hasn't been litigated and decided in court. In any case, constitution or not, the biggest reason not to default on debts is that doing so makes it far more expensive to borrow in the future.

> The US government is constitutionally bound to pay its debts Since when? Please point me to the part of the constitution that says that.

by c3534l 8y ago

> The US government is constitutionally bound to pay its debts Since when? Please point me to the part of the constitution that says that.

shaki-dora 8y ago

Since 17someting: Article VI > All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution. It requires a minimum of good faith, which you possibly lack. But it clearly implies that debt exists, and that it can be valid. The fact that valid debt is to be repaid is not clearly spelled out in the constitution, because the founding fathers did not believe there would ever be a time where idiot vandals trashed about requiring every minute detail to be proven from first principle.

c3534l 8y ago
That doesn't mean the government can't default on its debts, it means that the new government would assume the debts of its predecessor. Context from Wikipedia: > The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate following the War. Some States paid off their war debts and others did not. Federal assumption of the states' war debts became a major issue in the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention. As for the rest of your comments, I used to like it when HackerNews was somewhat civil.
dragonwriter 8y ago
Art. VI only says that the US under the Constitution chose to assume the debts of the US under the AoC. What seems closer to what you want is the first part of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” (Which still, strictly, doesn't say the debt will be paid, only that it's validity will not be questioned.)

chadash 8y ago

Article 14, part 4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. To be fair, there has been some debate into how this is interpreted as far as the constitutionality of debt ceilings if they would cause the government to default on its debt. The US has always paid its debts, so the question hasn't been litigated and decided in court. In any case, constitution or not, the biggest reason not to default on debts is that doing so makes it far more expensive to borrow in the future.