Thursday, December 17, 2009

It's Only Against The Law If You Get Caught

... and even then, only if someone enforces it.

Dig this.
The latest calculation of the National Debt as posted by the Treasury Department has - at least numerically - exceeded the statutory Debt Limit approved by Congress last February as part of the Recovery Act stimulus bill.

The ceiling was set at $12.104 trillion dollars. The latest posting by Treasury shows the National Debt at nearly $12.135 trillion.

A senior Treasury official told CBS News that the department has some "extraordinary accounting tools" it can use to give the government breathing room in the range of $150-billion when the Debt exceeds the Debt Ceiling.

Were it not for those "tools," the U.S. Government would not have the statutory authority to borrow any more money. It might block issuance of Social Security checks and require a shutdown of some parts of the federal government.
So what? Who's going to do what, exactly, if they just blow off the law? Sort of the way they blew off bankruptcy laws when they stiffed the secured bondholders of GM and Chrysler.

In all seriousness, what happens when there's no one to enforce the laws and the parties involved realize it?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are rules that control government? Who knew...

tim eisele said...

"what happens when there's no one to enforce the laws and the parties involved realize it?"

The effective speed limit goes to 600 miles per hour, and you get some spectacular car crashes?

The Sanity Inspector said...

In all seriousness, what happens when there's no one to enforce the laws and the parties involved realize it?

The current sad scene occurs, is what. We're over the falls, and have been for decades.

Spamblocker word: "Price" No kidding