> At the same time, by the terms of the 14th amendment itself, Congress is the one entrusted with enforcing that requirement. Yeah, but Article II charges the

> At the same time, by the terms of the 14th amendment itself, Congress is the one entrusted with enforcing that requirement. Yeah, but Article II charges the President with taking care that the laws be faithfully executed. To quote Lincoln (in a different context, certainly), "are all the laws but one to go unexecuted and the Government itself go to pieces lest that one be violated?" Obama would be on solid legal ground in saying that he has to reconcile conflicting congressional mandates by ignoring the debt ceiling. (On the other hand, I read today that any debt that was issued above the debt ceiling would be a lot more costly because buyers would insist on premium interest rates to compensate for the increased legal risk that the debt would be held invalid.)