I disagree with Hightower.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

constitutional bankruptcy

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No one has answered the March 30 post question: Just on the side: "Does the Federal Government have a right under the Constitution to pass a law that will bankrupt the country?"

Well I suppose that, technically, the government cannot go bankrupt. They can just print the money to pay their bills. It would have the same disastrous effects on the country, but would not technically be bankruptcy.

What ever you call it, do they have the Constitutional power to take us there?

I would say yes. There are no limits on their power to print or borrow money. Either would be sufficient to ruin us.
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2 comments:

  1. The answer is yes. Since the question did not stipulate that the legislation under discussion had to intentional bankrupt the country it could have been passed in ignorance of its consequences.

    This seems to be a pregnant question since it raises the even more pointed question of has Congress already done so? Perhaps not by a single piece of legislation but by the accretion of many, perhaps individually well meaning, pieces of legislation.

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