The White House appears to be on board with the platinum coin solution if Congress won’t raise the debt ceiling. Of course, they are being very coy about it.
Asked Wednesday whether anyone on the White House’s staff was examining the coin idea, [Press Secretary Jay] Carney said that he did not “know of” any effort, and referred additional questions to the Treasury Department.
“The president’s belief is Congress needs to do its job.”
After it was pointed out that he was leaving a narrow opening for the White House to adopt the proposal, Carney shrugged and laughed.“I think I answered it thoroughly. At length. With great detail,” Carney said.
They don’t want to give Congress the idea that they don’t have to raise the debt ceiling because the Treasury Secretary can forestall a disaster with the coin gambit. But they don’t want the markets to think there will be a disaster. But they do want the markets to put pressure on the Republicans. So, the result is that they won’t say one way or the other, which leaves it on the table but not in plain view.
I’d say that they are playing it about right. I still think people are crazy if they really think the trillion dollar coin is a reasonable interpretation of the law, but the House Republicans are even crazier. If they want to impeach the president, they can do it now. It’s an easy two-step process. First, refuse to raise the debt ceiling, forcing the president to mint the coin. Second, impeach him for being a dictator. All the right-wing organizations can ramp up the outrage factor, gun sales will soar again, money will fly to the right, FOX will get its ratings back. And then the Senate can blow them off and it will be 1999 all over again.
I can’t wait.
