NEW YORK TIMES: ….“Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit,” Anthony Coley, a Treasury spokesman, said in a written statement.
The Obama administration has indicated that the only way for the country to avoid a cash-management crisis as soon as next month is for Congress to raise the “debt ceiling,” which is the statutory limit on government borrowing. The cap is $16.4 trillion.
“There are only two options to deal with the debt limit: Congress can pay its bills, or it can fail to act and put the nation into default,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “Congress needs to do its job.” … (more)
EDITOR: The administration can allow the Republicans to shut down the government, enrage the populous, and then use then ‘reluctantly’ invoke the power under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to set aside the debt limit. The Republicans are bluffing into a pat hand.
