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Some Dems urge Obama go around Congress on debt limit

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    Will president invoke the 14th Amendment?

  • Duration 4:45
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It's a group of Democrats is calling on President Obama to ignore the legal debt ceiling and borrow more money without the consent of congress.

They signed a letter endorsing this drastic and legally questionable action arguing.

The president could invoke the fourteenth amendment to raise the debt limit if Republicans stand in his way.

Quote in the event the speaker that speaker John Boehner follows through on his reckless threat they write.

We would support your use of any authority available to you including the fourteenth amendment.

To preserve America's full faith and credit and preserve further damage to our economy.

No wonder -- new Gallup poll finds 77% of Americans believe Washington politics are causing serious harm to the nation.

Let's talk about it with Stephen Hayes a senior writer for the weekly standard and a Fox News contributors so this would essentially just.

Give the president -- limited power to raise the debt ceiling anytime he -- because he deems it in the best interest of the country.

It would indeed and there is another proposal that's been floated out there -- suggest that the president.

-- -- trillion dollar coin to allow him to to use that money team to go beyond the debt ceiling.

But I mean I think -- you know one of the lessons from these episodes in these efforts on the part of Democrats mostly in the House of Representatives.

Is -- they can be awfully creative when it comes to finding ways to avoid having to deal with that the debt crisis that we're facing.

Mean these are interesting and innovative solutions but they don't actually solve the root of the problem -- paper over.

The extent of the problem.

Well there there's a bit of a pattern going here I mean in president Obama's first term he promised he would fix the immigration problem that didn't happen couldn't get the DREAM Act through congress.

And so he.

Passed a bunch of executive orders applied a bunch of executive orders.

Allowing things to happen that that congress probably wouldn't have approved but but he just did them anyway.

And that seems to be the pattern with this administration.

What does and we've heard the president signaled that he wants to do that with -- -- -- a gun control.

Efforts that he's talking about with the with the Biden commission.

That they're that they're considering now the president has the White House has gone on record saying that they will not use this fourteenth amendment solution.

That they want to to have congress raise the debt limit by traditional means.

But that think having had having some cover from Democrats on the -- from Democrats in congress saying we at least want -- reserve this option.

Gives the White House some opening tip perhaps go back on their previous commitment if they declare that Republicans are being.

Two in trains -- want to -- the spending.

It just seems like you know when things -- inconvenient you know like for instance putting forward a budget in the US senate which which hasn't happened in.

What more than a thousand days now -- -- when it gets inconvenient to Obey the law they just look the other way disobey the law and and nobody seems to notice why.

One of the things interestingly that Republicans are considering doing as part of the these upcoming negotiations on the debt ceiling.

Is requiring the senate to pass a budget something that as you point out they haven't diaper for three years.

In order to have any consideration.

Of a debt ceiling -- now I mean one would think that you wouldn't have to put those kind of strictures on the senate minority get it to do its job -- it is the case.

That senate Democrats in particular have sought to avoid any kind of restraint.

On spending including.

The restraints that that are in -- on the body itself by just passing a budget but.

When President Obama you know directs his criticism of congress it always seems to be directed at the House of Representatives and speaker John Boehner as if the Democrats on Capitol Hill have nothing to do with the log -- Yeah I I think that's right -- -- one of the key points.

In this whole broad discussion of government spending people forget the President Obama came to office I -- there was a debate in August of 2000.

-- a presidential debate in which President Obama vowed to fix.

Entitlement spending in his first term and then shortly before he was inaugurated he talked further about the need to rein in entitlement spending and finally reform entitlements.

So that the United States wouldn't go broke.

But when it comes to pressuring senate Democrats to get serious about this or at least pass a budget declare where they want to spend and how they want to spend.

The president hasn't used his bully pulpit or any.

Even gentle nudging to get the senate to do its job we are also going to cut the deficit in half in that first term where we not.

This is true hasn't happened obviously parents -- -- -- -- from the weekly standard keep an -- of forests and when that their budget does -- when that deficit does get cut in half please let us know come running back who did live you just.

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