...thereby taking his oath seriously, unlike some of his predecessors: So much for all this crap about going back to the "original intent" of the Constitution. You could make a pretty strong case that the 14th Amendment's clause on this stuff: "the validity of the debt of the United States, authorized by law...shall not be questioned", gives the President the authority to state, quite simply, that if the Congress authorized x level of spending and y level of taxes, they implicity authorized z level of debt, and therefore screw this stupid debt ceiling, and cite the 14th amendment in support. But it would be stupid. Obama is not in the habit of giving his enemies the tools to destroy not him, but his side of the aisle: noticing this, the maniacs on the right would proceed to stage a massive campaign for a balanced budget amendment, and win. Obama was playing chess; his opponents, both liberal and conservative, checkers. There's one place where he's forced the Republicans into supporting his side of the argument. This goes completely unappreciated by the press, mesmerized as they are by the Tea Party. Let's see if anyone can figure out what that might be...