Understanding government debt

I won't do this better than one thousand other bright writers have already done, but I'll add my words to the body of writing just in case any readers missed the obvious. If President Obama "wins" the debt ceiling debate, he will not have $1 more to spend recklessly, after deep thought, frugally, or otherwise. That's not how it works. President Obama can only spend government dollars on things authorized by Congress and signed into law by him, excepting prior outlays and funds already authorized by law, such as standing laws regarding Social Security payments, etc. The debt ceiling debate is only, and I can't stress this strongly enough, only about paying for things ALREADY passed by Congress and ALREADY signed into law by a president. He could mint ten billion one trillion dollar platinum coins, and he alone can't spend a dime on anything new. This would ONLY go towards paying for things already passed by Congress and signed into law. The very same Congress now threatening to wreck a global economy to reign in a profligate spender. Kettle, meet pot. I can't think of any other way to say it. Congress can refuse to send him any authorization or appropriations bills above and beyond what they vote on. He can't mandate that Congress send him anything to sign. He can only sign and execute appropriations they approve. Congress can slow down spending. All they have to do is pass bills that only allocate funds to programs they approve. That's it. Straightforward and simple. Don't include anything in the appropriations process that goes above what they want the president to spend. Of course that means striking out or excluding very specific items, something none of the Republican leadership has been willing to itemize. President Obama can't sign bills not sent to him, and our annual appropriations process is part of this. Congress can also pass bills eliminating security safety nets, such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Plenty of Republicans would like to do this. I encourage them to follow their convictions. But they should realize that our republican (as in republic) national government requires majorities, and in most cases super majorities, to pass bills. Figure out a proposed bill that will pass, then do it. In the meantime please shut the hell up about President Obama's out of control spending. It's just not true and no amount of rhetoric can change that fact.