LEVIN: Biden Lies about the U.S. Debt & 14th Amendment (Video, Summary)

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION GIVES THE POWER TO CONGRESS TO DEAL WITH THE DEBT, TAXES, ETC., NOT TO THE PRESIDENT Using the U.S. Constitution, constitutional lawyer Mark Levin explained yesterday on his TV show the rules for dealing with the U.S. debt. He also cited numerous lies coming from Joe Biden and the Democrats about the debt ceiling negotiations and their new invention of using the 14th Amendment to circumvent the power of Congress. LEVIN: “The big lie this week is over the federal debt and whether we are going to default and we are getting an incredible amount of demagogic propaganda from the White House, from [Joe Biden] and his press secretary as well as the Democrats.” Why is this important? LEVIN: “I want to break this down for you, because it will determine the state of our economy in the weeks, months, years ahead.” Below the video are highlights of what Mark Levin said. Video via Mark Levin Show on Rumble: Biden Serial Liar

HIGHLIGHTS The Framers of the Constitution gave the powers to Congress, specifically the House of Representatives: LEVIN: “First of all, we need to look at the Constitution… Who is responsible for spending and borrowing and raising taxes? The President? Obviously, not.” Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States LEVIN: “The first part of that – it is not a suggestion. It is not ambiguous. This is a core power that the Legislature has.” “[T]he Framers of your Constitution… wanted this power not to be with the King, that is, not to be with this Presidency that they’ve created or this Executive Branch. (They’re supposed to execute the laws passed by Congress.) They [the Framers] wanted to give this power (and they did) to Congress. Even more specifically, they wanted to give it to the people who are directly elected in Congress. (The Senate at that time was chosen by the State Legislatures.) The House was chosen by the people. So, you – we the people – have some say so over the finances of our country…This is explicit…This is a primary core duty of the Congress, specifically of the House of Representatives.” Duties of the Executive Branch, the President: Article 2, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: “…he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” LEVIN: “The faithful execution of the laws passed by Congress. He took an oath during his inauguration – Biden did – to uphold the laws – even if you disagree with the laws. But Biden doesn’t comprehend this or he doesn’t care.” Biden violates: – Our immigration laws – Title IX – The spending clause Democrats want: – to stuff the Supreme Court with more leftists so they can do whatever they want to do. – to eliminate the filibuster rule so if they have a majority, they can ram through whatever law they want. – to add Puerto Rico and DC as states so they can have more Democrats. – to change the election laws so they never lose. Putting it all together: LEVIN: “So, again, Article II, Section 3, “he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” So when you put that section together – as the Framers did – with Article I, who is responsible for land taxes, collecting taxes, spending and borrowing? Congress. Is the job of the President of the United States to protect Congress’ roll.” The 14th Amendment has nothing to do with spending and borrowing as Biden and Democrats are claiming. The 14th Amendment was drafted to clean up the finances of the Civil War: LEVIN: “Joe Biden and his advisors, some of these loony professors … say Section 4 of the 14th Amendment (which was ratified on July 9, 1868) – that the people who ratified that and the people who drafted it intended for the President of the United State to have the power to go around Congress’ core function under Article I and if he wants to spend and if he wants to borrow and if he wants to tax, he is free to do so.” “[T]heir argument… is so preposterous.” Amendment 14, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution: 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. LEVIN: “What was the point of this section? To clean up the finances of the United States of America and determine as a general matter who would be paid and who wouldn’t be paid after and as the result of the Civil War. This has nothing to do with the full faith and credit of the United States today.” LEVIN: “In other words, what they are saying is, look, as a federal government, as a union now, these are the debts we are going to pay: services to suppressing the confederacy. But we are not going to pay anything – not one nickel – in support of the confederacy.” U.S. DEBT UNDER BIDEN So far in 2023 as of April: [Source: U.S. Dept. of Treasury Fiscal Data] – Federal government revenue: $2.69 trillion – Federal government spending: $3.61 trillion – U.S. National Debt as of April 2023: $31.46 trillion – In 2022 the federal government collected: $4.90 trillion – In 2022 the federal government spent: $6.27 trillion – In 2022 the federal government added: $1.38 trillion in debt U.S. Debt under Biden: – In 2022 the federal government added: $1.38 trillion in debthttps://t.co/USvvCVvapu pic.twitter.com/tyNhTJY6ko — Fact REAL (@FactREAL) May 22, 2023 BIDEN DEBT INCREASE PROJECTIONS [Source: U.S. Senate Budget Committee – March 2023] – Between 2021 and 2031, the debt will be $6 trillion higher than was projected when Biden took office. – Between 2024 and 2033, interest costs from borrowing will total a staggering $10.2 trillion. – The Biden Budget would increase debt held by the public from $32.7 trillion in 2023 to $50.7 trillion by 2033. Biden debt increase projections:https://t.co/USvvCVvapu pic.twitter.com/SCBNjJTiGr — Fact REAL (@FactREAL) May 22, 2023 Lefty fact-checkers say Biden didn’t cut the federal deficit by $1.7 trillion LEVIN: Biden says “that he cut the federal deficit by $1.7 trillion. Every single fact-checker (they are all on the Left) say that’s a lie. He [Biden] didn’t cut the deficit by $1.7 trillion – that’s the reduction as a result of the COVID spending.” FactCheck.org (a left-wing site): All said, the decline in the deficit over the past fiscal year is more than entirely the result of waning COVID relief and not of historic deficit reduction by President Biden as the White House claims,” CRFB wrote.

Republicans are proposing a very modest cut to spending. Biden says that social security checks would stop. Social Security doesn’t need Congress to authorize funds for each year: Instead, Social Security benefits are considered mandatory spending and are paid from the program’s trust fund, and therefore, the agency has the funds to continue paying benefits.” [Source: LBJlegal.com, ‘Is Social Security Affected by a Government Shutdown or Default?] Medicare has its own trust fund. It will pay physicians and hospitals out of the trust fund: Medicare continued to pay physicians and hospitals during the shutdown, and the ability to reimburse providers and plans was never in question, because claims are paid [Source: GHG Advisors: ‘New Conventional Wisdom: A Government Shutdown and New Debt Crisis are Gonna Happen,’ Sept. 20, 2013] Government agencies that won’t shut down as a matter of federal law: They can be affected by a prolonged government shutdown [but federal employees continue to work according to Veteran.com] – Federal Bureau of Investigation – Federal Bureau of Prisons – Drug Enforcement Agency – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, And Firearms – Department of Homeland Security – Customs And Border Protection – Transportation Security Administration – Department of Defense [Source: Veteran.com, December 1, 2021] LEVIN: “Medicare, Social Security, the VA [Veterans Administration] are protected. The military [is also] protected.” More Biden Lies: – In 1975, Joe Biden introduced a bill that would have required new legislation every 4 to 6 years to re-authorize Social Security and Medicare. – In 1995, Biden did the same thing: He introduced a motion on the floor of the Senate to do exactly the same thing. – Today, Biden accuses Republicans of trying to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits. Joe Biden, a segregationist: – Biden opposed integration in our public schools. Then Biden lectures Americans about white supremacy being the greatest danger we face. – Here we have a man [Joe Biden], who is a throwback of the segregation period, warning all of us that tens of millions of Americans – we are just like him. But we are nothing like him. – He is, in my view, a serial, serial liar. To have a serial liar in the White House is a dangerous thing. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – END OF HIGHLIGHTS – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT – Mark Levin: Trump is a Choirboy Compared to Democrat Presidents (Video, Highlights)

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Democrats Got over 75% of SVB’s Donations (2014-2022 Data)

Data via OpenSecrets.org, the government transparency group, show: On average: – From 2014 to 2022, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) donated 75% to Democrats; 23% to Republicans. Specifically: – For Congress in 2020, SVB donated about $79K to Democrats and only $6K to Republicans. (That is, 89.9% to Democrats and less than 7% to Republicans.) – For all federal candidates in 2020, SVB donated $157K to Democrats and only $7K to Republicans. (That is, 95.6% to Democrats and less than 5% to Republicans.) – In 2020, SVB donated $66,748 to Biden (98.27%) but only $1,178 to Trump. – In 2016, SVB donated $22,833 to Hillary Clinton (99.43%) but only $131 to Trump (yes, less than $200 to Trump.)

SUMMARY TABLE

SCREENSHOTS FROM OPENSECRETS.ORG: – In 2020: About 90% of SBV donations went to Democrats in Congress; less than 7% to Republicans.

– In 2020: SBV donated $66,748 to Biden but only $1,178 to Trump.

– In 2016, SVB donated $22,833 to Hillary Clinton but only $131 to Trump.

U.S. Banking System Downgraded to Negative by Moody’s (Rating Agency)

NBC News reports: Moody’s cuts outlook on U.S. banking system to negative, citing ‘rapidly deteriorating operating environment’ In a harsh blow to an already-reeling sector, Moody’s Investors Service on Monday cut its view on the entire banking system to negative from stable. The firm, part of the big-three rating services, said it was making the move in light of key bank failures that prompted regulators to step in Sunday with a dramatic rescue plan for depositors and other institutions impacted by the crisis. “We have changed to negative from stable our outlook on the US banking system to reflect the rapid deterioration in the operating environment following deposit runs at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank (SNY) and the failures of SVB and SNY,” Moody’s said in a report. […] The moves are important because they could impact credit ratings and thus borrowing costs for the sector. […] SVB, for instance, found itself with some $16 billion in unrealized losses from long-dated Treasurys it held. As yields rose, it eroded the principle value of those bonds and created liquidity issues for the bank, long a favorite of high-flying tech investors that couldn’t get financing at traditional institutions. SVB had to sell those bonds at a loss to meet obligations. CNN: The credit ratings firm said it expects more banks will come under pressure after SVB’s failure — particularly those with large hoards of uninsured deposits and long-term Treasury bonds that have crumbled in value. Moody’s said it expects pressure on the banking sector to persist as the Fed continues to hike interest rates to combat inflation. SVB was brought down by a bank run, but its exposure to long-term Treasuries that tumbled in value during the Fed’s historic rate-hike campaign aggravated its liquidity problem. Moody’s predicts the newly “stressed operating environment” for banks could lead some to lend less, buy back fewer shares or cut dividends to preserve capital in case of emergency. The Epoch Times: “Pandemic-related fiscal stimulus, along with more than a decade of ultra-low interest rates and quantitative easing, resulted in significant excess deposit creation in the U.S. banking sector,” the Moody’s note continues to say. “This has given rise to asset-liability management challenges, with some banks having invested excess deposits in longer-dated fixed-income securities that have lost value during the rapid rise in U.S. interest rates.” – Breitbart: Moody’s also warned it was reviewing the rates of First Republic Bank, Zions, Western Alliance, Comerica, UMB Financial, and Intrust Financial. It said it had cut the rating on Signature Bank, which was seized by bank regulators over the weekend, to junk. […] The company expects the economy to fall into a recession later this year. Read Moody’s report: – Moodys.com – Moody’s Report on First Republic Bank

LIST: Democrats Admitting Govt. Stimuli Would Cause Inflation

– October 20, 2022: Democrat Congressman James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) Report: ‘All Of Us Knew’: Top House Dem Admits The Party Was Aware That They’d Cause Inflation Democrat Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina: “All of us knew this would be the case when we put in place this recovery program. Any time you put more money into the economy, prices tend to rise.” […] “The Biden administration and Democrats have blamed high gas prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin, but some experts have said that President Biden’s hostility towards fossil fuel production is to blame.” Video via Rumble:

– Aug. 1, 2022: Biden’s senior communications adviser to the National Economic Council Jesse Lee Report: White House admits Inflation Reduction Act, pushed by Manchin, Schumer, will barely reduce inflation (–0.33% by 2031) The $739 billion Democratic spending plan dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act will barely affect prices over the next decade, experts say — and even the White House admitted it Monday. According to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, the 725-page bill hammered out by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) would only lower the Consumer Price Index – a closely watched gauge that measures what consumers paid for goods and services –0.33% by 2031. “Through the middle of this decade the impact of the legislation on inflation is marginal, but it becomes more meaningful later in the decade,” Zandi wrote. Jesse Lee, a senior communications adviser to the National Economic Council, was quick to tout Zandi’s findings, tweeting, “This is actually the overwhelming consensus.” “White House officials’ own rosiest, best-case-scenario spin is that their ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will have taken one third of one percentage point off inflation by nine years from now?” Andrew Quinn, a speechwriter for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), asked incredulously.

– June 4, 2022: Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Report: Yellen admits Biden got inflation wrong…and she was early dissenter that too much government money into economy…concern about inflation (Archive) Now Bloomberg reports that in a new book about JANET YELLEN, the Treasury secretary was an early internal dissenter: “‘Privately, Yellen agreed with Summers that too much government money was flowing into the economy too quickly,’ writes OWEN ULLMANN, the book’s author and a veteran Washington journalist, referring to former Treasury Secretary LAWRENCE SUMMERS, who severely criticized the size of the aid plan. … “Yellen’s concern about inflation ‘is why she had sought without success to scale back the $1.9 trillion relief plan by a third early in 2021 before Congress passed the enormous program,’ wrote Ullmann, who had ‘unfiltered access’ to Yellen as he researched the book, according to publisher PublicAffairs.” Yellen was recently the first top Biden official to admit she was incorrect in her 2021 public remarks on inflation. “I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this week after he showed clips of her calling the problem “small” and “manageable.” – Nov. 11, 2021: Joe Biden Report: Biden Admits His $2T COVID Stimulus Fueled Spike In Inflation: President Joe Biden on Wednesday acknowledged that his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package has made it so “people have more money now,” and claimed that that provided fuel for the highest rate of inflation in more than 30 years.

LIST: These Democrat Spending Bills Fueled Inflation

REPORTS: HERE IS WHY INFLATION IS SO HIGH – National Review: The Stagflation President – Joe Biden’s terrible economic legacy (Other link: WFB) (Oct. 15, 2022) SUMMARY: Excessive Spending: – Democrats passed The American Rescue Plan Act [$1.9 trillion] “on a party-line vote. Biden signed it into law on March 11, 2021. Inflation spiked that April.” – Biden continue spending on top of the $5 trillion regular budget: – – Investment and Jobs Act ($550 billion)> – – CHIPS and Science Act ($250 billion) – – Inflation “Reduction” Act ($740 billion) – Biden “issued a constitutionally dubious executive order forgiving college debt…[which] will increase the government’s cost of student loans by an estimated $400 billion.” – Petroleum Reserve: “Meanwhile, to lower gasoline prices ahead of the midterm election, [Biden] drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level in 40 years… Effects: – “The cost of gasoline is rising once again.” – “The economy shrank during the first half of 2022.” – “In March, the Federal Reserve began ratcheting up interest rates to squash inflation. The hikes haven’t resulted in price stability. But they have led to: – – the highest mortgage rates in 20 years, – – growing volatility in debt markets, and – – the increasing likelihood of a prolonged recession and financial crisis.” – Washington Post: The White House is wrong. Biden is no steward of fiscal responsibility. (Archive) (Sept. 13, 2022) [The Biden] administration’s record is, sadly, the opposite of what it argues. Since entering office, the president has approved policies adding $4.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. This is an extraordinary sum (…) If ever there were a moment for responsible budgeting, this is it. The debt is at near-record levels. Inflation is soaring, in part because of excessive government spending. (…) The Biden administration’s first major initiative was to borrow more, ostensibly to fight the covid crisis, though the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was well in excess of what was needed and filled with plenty of non-covid spending…the administration should have urged a course correction when it became clear the bill significantly overshot the needs of the economy and that inflation posed a growing risk. Instead, the administration doubled down on this initial borrowing through a series of laws and executive actions. Specifically, the administration and Congress went on a bipartisan borrowing binge for higher appropriations, infrastructure investments, spending on microchips, veterans’ benefits and aid to Ukraine, adding $1.4 trillion more to the debt. Rather than insisting the bills be paid for, Biden gave them full-throated support. And that wasn’t all. The White House added to this fiscal irresponsibility by initiating an additional $1.1 trillion of borrowing through the aggressive use of executive actions, including his most recent unpaid-for student debt relief plan. The debt relief alone will cost a half a trillion dollars by my organization’s estimate. Others put the price tag even higher. – NY Post: Inflation roars on as Biden keeps bragging about his spending that’s still fueling it (Oct. 13, 2022) [T]he Consumer Price Index rose more (and higher than expected) in September than it did in August, clocking an 8.2% rise over last September. Fuel oil is up 58.1%; bread, 16.2%; milk, almost 16%. Far worse, core CPI (which excludes energy and food and is a steadier measure of the trend) rose to a four-decade record: 6.6%. […] In short, the pressure caused by Biden’s foolish and continuing spending is still crushing average Americans.

OBAMA ADVISORS & OTHERS WARNED DEMOCRATS: – Obama Adviser Steve Rattner Says ‘We’re All Paying the Price’ for Bidenflation: (June 1, 2022) “Former Obama adviser Steve Rattner on Wednesday blamed the Biden administration’s stimulus spending for the nation’s inflation surge, which reached a 40-year high in April.” – Obama adviser Larry Summers warned before Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan that it could lead to inflationary pressures (Feb. 2021) – Doug Holtz-Eakin, former CBO director: “Based on any reasonable economic theory of stimulus, $1.9 trillion is far too large.” – USA Today’s Editorial Board: President Biden, right-size your COVID-19 relief plan. Here’s what to cut. (Feb. 1, 2021) Our View: Emergency funding is needed for vaccines and targeted stimulus. But not for tax credits, $15 minimum wage and inappropriate state aid. […] The White House plan calls for $1.9 trillion in spending, after a year of COVID-19 emergency funding that has already added more than $2 trillion to a spiraling national debt. There’s room to scale this back, particularly in light of a new Congressional Budget Office report that predicts a better-than-expected economic recovery. – Forbes: Is There Wasteful Spending In The New $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Bill? (Feb. 22, 2021) – Republicans Lobbied to Remove Wasteful Spending from Coronavirus Package (Jan. 19, 2021) – Critics Say $1.9 Trillion COVID Bill Larded With Special-Interest Spending (Feb. 24, 2021) – Biden’s secret spending is reshaping America and burying us under mountains of debt (July 13, 2022) – Republicans fought against the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (Aug. 5, 2022) –>PDF: UPDATED: 52 RADICAL POLICIES IN THE INFLATION REINFORCEMENT ACT –>Summary here

The Hill: Inflation report = Bad News for Democrats

Democrats’ runaway inflation continues to crush working families Via The Hill: Inflation report is bad news for Democrats (Archive) (Oct. 14, 2022) Thursday’s report showing that inflation jumped higher than expected in September and that prices remain at a 40-year high comes at a bad time for Democrats, who are battling to hang onto their Senate majority and are expected to lose control of the House. […] But the fact remains that voters’ view of the economy and inflation is negative, and that’s not likely to change over the next three-and-a-half weeks. […] [I]nflation rate…reached 8.2 percent last month compared to a year ago. The consumer price index (CPI) jumped 0.4 percent in September, exceeding Dow Jones’s estimate of 0.3 percent. Core CPI, a gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve that excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased by 0.6 percent in September, bringing it 6.6 percent higher than a year ago. […] “Democrats’ runaway inflation continues to crush working families with no relief in sight,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in response to Thursday’s inflation report. He accused Democrats of failing to take inflation seriously when they took over the Senate in 2021 and making it worse by passing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was designed to further boost an economy that was already strong. Republicans say the fiscal stimulus bill helped overheat the economy and ramp up inflation. “Democrats have produced staggering 13.5 percent inflation since January 2021. That was shortly before [Senate Majority Leader Charles] Schumer [D-N.Y.] said ‘I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near term, are very real’ and every Senate Democrat cast the tiebreaking vote for runaway reckless spending,” McConnell said. […] [Ross] Baker, [a] political scientist, observed that the inflation report shows what voters are reminded of on a weekly or daily basis when they go to the gas station to fill up their car or the grocery store to fill up their cart.