Raising the debt limit has always stuck in my craw. Like, how does this happen? Like, at some point while budgeting the money that Americans work hard for (those who do), doesn’t someone say, “Yo, my fellow sea sponges, we are allocating more than we will take in.” Or, before we send more money to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (I checked, we do), doesn’t someone open the cash draw and find nothing but cobwebs. No. These people are irresponsible twat waffles and the fakakta debt ceiling negotiations are not on their radar until they are ready to default on OUR debt and then it’s a bloody freaking emergency and everyone’s hair is on fire.

In the hours before Creepy Joe Biden left for the G7 in Japan, he finally appointed negotiators to act in his stead. Nina told you about that on Wednesday and you can read it here. I can only reiterate what our Nina said – He. Doesn’t. Care. And, the negotiations are not going well.

Take a look at this headline: “Debt ceiling talks back on after GOP negotiators briefly ‘press pause'”.

— Republicans returned to the debt ceiling negotiating table Friday night after temporarily pausing talks with the White House that they said were “not productive.”
“We’ll be back in the room tonight,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox Business early Friday evening.
A White House official later confirmed to NBC News that the two sides had reopened discussions.
The movement came about seven hours after Rep. Garret Graves, R-La, who was tapped by McCarthy to lead the negotiations with White House staff, told reporters “we decided to press pause” because their morning meeting was “just not productive.”
He declined to comment on details of the negotiations, but said the administration was being “unreasonable” as the clock ticks to the June 1 deadline set by the Treasury Department to act or risk a calamitous default on U.S. debt.

Liberal Progressives “unreasonable”? Oh my gravy, whoever heard of that? They don’t take the fakakta debt ceiling serious or want to be reasonable because they know Republicans will cave. The UniParty will make a commercial about shoving grandma over the cliff in her wheelchair, denying a transgender man an “addadicktomy” or not having enough cribs for the babies of illegal immigrant ten year olds and we will fold like cheap suits.

So, the debt ceiling negotiations were back on in the evening for a hot minute:

Following a short meeting Friday night about the debt ceiling at the Capitol between White House negotiators and Republican leaders, the two sides left without an agreement. https://t.co/DnzoWyJMZT

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 20, 2023

Here are the excuses from the principals for why they walked out ended negotiations:

Top Republican negotiators for McCarthy exited the brief meeting shortly after talks restarted Friday evening. They said there were no further negotiations planned for Friday and they were uncertain on next steps. But a top White House adviser to President Joe Biden said they were hopeful for a resolution. The negotiators are racing to strike a budget deal to resolve the standoff.

“We reengaged, had a very, very candid discussion, talking about where we are, talking about where things need to be, what’s reasonably acceptable,” said Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a top McCarthy ally leading the talks for his side.

Another Republican negotiator, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, said McCarthy had left for the night, and they would be briefing the speaker on the latest developments.

Asked if he was confident an agreement over budget issues could be reached with the White House, McHenry said, “No.”

As the White House team left the nighttime session, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, who is leading talks for the Democrats, said he was hopeful for an outcome. “We’re going to keep working,” he said.

Then, there is this cacophony about using the 14th Amendment for the Debt Ceiling, specifically Section Four:

Section 4
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. 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, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

I thought the 14 Amendment was passed so that the United States didn’t assume the debts of the Confederacy or get sued for loss of property by former slave owners. But, the suggestion came from Lawrence Tribe who has been wrong about most things:

Gazette: What does the 14th Amendment say about the nation’s debt?
Tribe: The text of the 14th Amendment is explicit. Section 4 of the 14th Amendment says, “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.” This is a guarantee that the U.S. will always be good for all its debts, period.
Gazette: So how can a law passed by Congress in 1917 establishing a debt ceiling decide which debts are valid and should be paid and which are less valid, and can be put off?
Tribe: In my view, a debt ceiling law can’t legitimately do that. But there’s a catch. By leaving that law in place and threatening for the first time ever not to raise the ceiling as needed to pay all the debts it has already created, Congress can cause economic crises by pointing to that ceiling and generating panic because nobody can say for sure what would happen when the ceiling is breached.
From 1789 to 1917, Congress incurred debts pursuant to statutory authorizations, levying taxes and also borrowing money from time to time. When Congress authorized an individual bond issue, typically for a stated purpose, the Treasury Department could borrow money pursuant to that authorization.

He’s a maroon.

Now, the Progs are mad that the Bidenites won’t listen to Tribe:

Now, Politico reports that Joe Biden has essential told the Democrats to forget about it, when it comes to triggering the 14th Amendment:
But the White House remains resistant. It issued a subdued statement indicating it sees no reason to pull the plug on talks. And privately, its message has been even blunter.
Senior Biden officials have told progressive activists and lawmakers in recent days that they do not see the 14th Amendment — which says the “validity of the public debt” cannot be questioned — as a viable means of circumventing debt ceiling negotiations. They have argued that doing so would be risky and destabilizing, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
And while the officials said “Biden would likely have the authority to declare the debt limit unconstitutional as a last-ditch way to sidestep default,” something this drastic would lead to “a pitched legal battle, undermine global faith in U.S. creditworthiness and damage the economy.”

I am sorry. Is this making the roots of your hair hurt? Mine, too.

The best response to the 14th Amendment gambit was from Democrat Senator Chris Murphy:

Absolve Congress from being adults! That is epicly funny. The fakakta debt ceiling will be finalized when the Republicans cave at 11:59 on May 31. Putzes.

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