Jeezy
DP Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2011
- Messages
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I see what you're saying, Jeezy, but it's not that simple. You see, per Art 1, Sect 9, clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution, it is Congress' responsibility to determine exactly what those "appropriations" are under the law. If they don't adhere to Art 1, Sect 8, clause 2, they place the Treasury's ability to pay for those appropriations in jeapordy effectively "passing the buck" - being derelect in their duties as members of Congress. While it is true that Treasury would have to pay bills anyway, its job becomes that much harder because without the ability to borrow money since revenues are thin (remember, Treasury isn't collecting enough income taxes to keep pace with spending obligations) it has to pick and choose which bills to pay.
I don't see why any of this is an insurmountable problem. In a post 8/2 world, I envision the president submitting one last budget proposal to Congress....his "doomsday" budget, which I am positive has already been written.
They will pass it, and fulfill their constitutional duty.
It's that simple.
To that, you are correct. IF Treasure decides to pay only those debt obligations (appropriations) listed on page 13 of the report, it wouldn't be maximizing it's "bang for the buck" as much as it would be if it had chosen to pay for those debt obligations listed on page 16 as the total amounts are nearly identical. Just so everyone understands what Jeezy and I are talking about here:
From page 13 of the report (all figures in billions):
Defense Vendor Payments (page 13) = $31.7
From page 16 of the report (all figures in billions):
Food/Nutrition Services + TANF = $9.3
HUD Programs = $6.7
Veterans Affairs Programs = $2.9
Special Education Grants = $3.6
Tuition Assistance = $10.4
Total = $32.9
Diff between expenditures on page 16 from page 13 = $1.2 billion ($173.9 - 172.7)
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