Use of the Debt Ceiling to Force Debate

I have seen some commentary questioning the temerity of Republicans in holding out for spending cuts through the debt limit ceiling debate. The argument goes like this, the Congress passed the entitlement laws, budgets and tax code that led to this mess, how dare they withhold funding for these items. The obvious problem with this argument is that the debt limit acts as a constitutional prerogative of the Congress to limit the cumulative effects of such budget decisions on the balance of the Treasury of the United States. One might question the constitutionality of the "debt limit ceiling" as the means of the Congress expressing its will regarding the debt, but the fact of its authority is clear. Article 2, Section 8 grants to Congress these powers:

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;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

So that seems fairly clear.

The other objection is that Republicans are "hostage takers," and that entitlements are somehow solemn obligations that cannot be changed. Again, this is not so, in Fleming vs. Nestor, the Supremes ruled that

"To engraft upon the Social Security system a concept of 'accrued property rights' would deprive it of the flexibility and boldness in adjustment to ever changing conditions which it demands." The Court went on to say, "It is apparent that the non-contractual interest of an employee covered by the [Social Security] Act cannot be soundly analogized to that of the holder of an annuity, whose right to benefits is bottomed on his contractual premium payments."

Since increasing the debt ceiling is a piece of legislation, then that same legislation can cut entitlements or any other spending, with the possible exception of interest on the national debt, by amending entitlement law. The real problem today is that these entitlements are sacrosanct monuments in the Democratic party's pantheon of heroes, primarily FDR. Reforming them undermines the very meaning of the party in the eyes of most of its core supporters and office holders.

However, in the din of the news on the negotiations, what is being cut has not been specified in the news. For the life of me, I can' t find a decent summary of where the cuts are coming from. This is why it looks like kabuki to me as well as W.C and Leslie.

In the meantime, what's to be done? Obama himself called for means testing Medicare, which his lefty base opposes. That's why I have been warming to the idea of means testing all entitlement programs. Jared Bernstein (H/T DailyKos), left side pundit, makes my case:

I understand the appeal and it certainly makes sense to ask for more for a program facing a tight budget from those who can afford it. But the history of social policy leads me to worry about this: once you shift a program from universal coverage to means testing, it’s increasingly vulnerable to deeper means testing until it eventually becomes a poverty program which everyone wants to get rid of.

Thank you for the clarity, except, that medicare and social security as currently enacted are actually poverty programs in stealth mode when one dives into the actual details. Conservatives oppose these changes because means testing will initially harm the elderly of the middle class, and it isn't a very conservative idea. But we need to get creative, think long term, because as entitlements grow out of control pretty much the world over, they have the power to destabilize the national government, much like Greece. (Joke I heard: What's a Grecian Urn? I didn't know they worked.) Since these programs are already poverty programs, conservatives and libertarians should get behind making that explicit.

By the way, search for this: what are republican "specific budget cuts" debt ceiling debate and see if you get results like this in a news search.