How to Do the 14th on the 24th

If paralysis continues in Washington for just two more days, catastrophe could begin on Monday.  That's the likely reality, as credit agencies issue increasingly dire warnings, and their mid-July date for taking action on downgrading the country's credit rating has already passed.

If by Friday the House leadership cannot tell President Obama that they can deliver a vote on an acceptable bill raising the debt ceiling next week, then it may well be time for the President to do his constitutional duty.

The idea of the President invoking the 14th amendment to ensure that the U.S. will continue to pay its bills is radical enough that the White House has publicly disavowed any interest in even considering it.  But if they haven't been exploring it as a contingency plan, they should be doing it very quickly now.

It has perhaps been unthinkable, but then so is the spectre of the United States not paying its debts or falling helpless before the world.  The 14th amendment option went a long way towards becoming acceptable when a former President of the United States--not a pundit, not a think tank, not an irresponsible blogger--stated that in these circumstances, he would invoke it.

This statement by former President Clinton was barely noted in the media.  But it is very significant, I believe.

I also believe this: that if no congressional action to raise the debt ceiling in an acceptable way is in sight by Friday,  President Obama should alert the media of a White House address on Sunday night, July 24.

The television cameras will be focused on the podium at the end of that long corridor in the White House we often see.  Then a door down the hall opens and President Obama emerges and begins walking towards the podium and the camera.  A split second later another door opens, and two figures walk out: former Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush emerge.  At the same time, a door on the opposite side opens, and two more figures emerge: former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

The four ex-Presidents stand behind President Obama as he explains to the American people what will happen if the U.S. government defaults,  and why it is his constitutional duty to not allow that to happen.  When President Obama is finished speaking, the four ex-Presidents shake his hand.  They walk back down the corridor together.