Biden fix is no solution

OPINION:

President Biden is threatening to use his perceived authority under the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling (“14th Amendment poses a risky Biden solution to eliminate debt ceiling,” web, May 21).

His “solution” is not only wholly without merit, but it opens a Pandora’s box of litigation to be exploited by Republicans and citizens who still believe in the text of the Constitution.

First, the solution relies on Section 4, which reads: “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.”

The operative word here is validity, which means “the state of being legally or officially binding or acceptable.” The Republican proposal to raise the debt ceiling while also reducing the budget does not question the validity of the debt the U.S. has incurred. Whether the U.S. has sufficient dollars to pay its valid debts is a different question.

Thus, this language does not apply to the debt ceiling. Regarding the Pandora’s box of litigation, the second sentence of the amendment reads, “But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”

As the Durham report makes clear, Mr. Biden, former President Barack Obama, former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Adam Schiff and the many malefactors within and out of the government participating and advancing the Trump-Russia collusion lie and engaged in what any right-minded person could only conclude was an attempted insurrection.

Mr. Biden’s debt-ceiling fix is also subject to litigation to ensure that all moneys paid or debt incurred (such as the salaries of all federal personnel) to advance the Russia-collusion lie is culled before any action on the debt ceiling is taken. The Biden solution is no solution; it’s merely the latest shiny object the Democrats think they can get us to focus on to distract from the real problem: their out-of-control spending. I pray House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans in the House and Senate do not cave.

EDWARD J. OBLOY 

Bristow, Virginia