14th Amendment emerges as last-ditch fix to ward off default

[DemocraticPatriot]

23. I applied that quote to the wrong case. I was not Dred Scot, it was Lincoln's suspension

of the right of habeus corpus during the early years of the rebellion that generated that line. Lincoln's suspension of that right helped to prevent the secession of the state of Maryland from the union-- whose pro-southern legislature had been headed in that direction, before Lincoln had many of the rebellious legislators arrested and held without charges for a time, thus preventing any such pro-secession vote. Of course the secession of Maryland would have been disastrous to the union cause, leaving DC completely surrounded by rebel territory.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger Taney, the same justice who wrote the Dred Scot decision, issued an order for Lincoln to release all such persons held without charges, i.e. "legally" overturning Lincoln's suspension of habeus corpus. President Lincoln ignored the decision.

It was then that some contemporary observed, 'Lincoln commands more troops than the Supreme Court'.

Sorry, when I said "Dred Scot" that was just a complete brain-fart, LOL. I know my history, but sometimes when the keyboard fingers get clacking, one might occasionally make an error...

My reference to "troops" in the current instance was a tad facetious-- but it remains true that the Supreme Court commands no troops while the President does. The Supreme Court has no powerful means of enforcing its decisions, except for the voluntary compliance of the rest of us.

Congress may be 'given the power to borrow money' but it is the US Treasury who pays the bills,
and the Treasury department serves under the orders of the executive, President Biden...

The Congress commands no troops, either....

In the extraordinary circumstances that the congress is unable to to raise the debt limit, I think that President Biden would be entirely justified, in order to protect the economy of the United States as well as the world, to declare that the "debt limit" law passed by congress during World War I, was in fact unconstitutional, and that the Treasury Department, under his command, will continue to pay the debts incurred by the United States, as mandated by the 14th amendment to the Constituion.

Of course there would be court challenges, but those would drag on for years. In the meantime, the Congress, under massive public pressure, would likely come through on their obligations.

If not, there is always that $Trillion dollar coin option.