Volume 1, Number 1
Contents
Greetings from the Writer-in-Chief..............................................................................................1
Quote of Provocation, from Luke Timothy Johnson....................................................................1
Debt Ceiling Feeling Dealing.......................................................................................................1
Quote of Provocation
I read the passage shown infra and could not help but
think of the battling politics and cultural values
surrounding the Terri Schiavo case. From Luke Timothy
Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It
Matters (New York: Doubleday, c2003), p. 49:
If people think that God creates the world, their life
ought to reflect that conviction by thanksgiving,
reverence, and sharing. But if they believe that the
world is simply the result of accidental processes,
they need not be grateful at all, but can take from
others whatever they want and can get. Likewise, if
they believe that God creates everything visible and
invisible, they should refuse to regard or treat any
part of the world as despicable or disposable. If
Christians believe that the church is catholic, they
should welcome diversity within the church. If they
Debt Ceiling Feeling Dealing
The debt ceiling has been in existence since the Act of 24
September 1917, chapter 56 was signed into law by
President Wilson. The act set an aggregate debt limit of
$7,538,945,460 to enable America's entry into the Great
War. For long after, the debt cap was managed by
statutory amendment to, as the convention became, the
‘Second Liberty Bond Act’. That act was repealed by
Public Law 97–258, enacted on 13 September 1982 with
President Reagan's signature. The new law established
the codification of Title 31—Money and Finance. Section
3101 of title 31 (31 U.S.C. 3101) provided for the public
debt limit, initially maintained at $400,000,000,000. The
debt limit is still specified by the same section of code,
though the actual value has increased many times.
Members of the U.S. House decided to expedite the
process of raising the debt ceiling. In May of 1997, after
nearly two decades of standing, the streamlined process
was aptly characterized by Representative Nick H. Smith
(R-MI, 7th). “House rule 49, the so-called Gephardt rule
was passed in 1979 in order to allow Members to avoid a
Verona, Pennsylvania November 2009
Greetings from the Writer-in-Chief
This is the inaugural issue of The Cerebral Freedom.
It is, figuratively speaking, merely a gentle pat to
invigorate your newborn readership. The next issue
will be a coming-of-age kick in the intellectual crotch
not to be missed. (Hint: The Pledge of Allegiance has
a dark side.) Sharing The Cerebral Freedom with your
uninformed friends is the right and fun thing to do. If
you have to read aloud, you sow for rewards all the
greater. Ultimately, the advancement of our mutual
insight through study shall determine whether human
liberty shall not perish from the face of the earth!
—Douglas Morris
believe “in the resurrection of the body and life
everlasting,” then they should not act as if sustaining
mortal life at all costs is a supreme good.
separate embarrassing vote to raise the debt ceiling.”
“The Gephardt rule treats Congress' constitutional power
to borrow as intermixed with its power to spend. This
violates the spirit of the constitution which lists these
powers as separate and distinct. As a result of the
Gephardt rule, Federal borrowing is no longer seen as an
emergency power for times of depression or war, but just
another, natural part of the Federal budget process.” The
rule was penned by Richard Gephardt, the Democratic
representative of Missouri's 3rd district 1977–2004, and
originally enacted as Public Law 96–78 on 29 September
1979 with the signature of President Carter. The
Gephardt rule is currently listed as House rule 28 (of the
111th Congress).
One can find relatively recent public laws on the
Government Printing Office website at
www.gpoaccess.gov: for example, Public Law 111–5 on
page 366 (123 Stat. 366). If you want public laws written
by a Congress previous to the current Congress, navigate
to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/search.html. Try
Page 2 The Cerebral Freedom Volume 1, Number 1

searching in the pdf versions of the Selected Non-Temporary Changes to Debt Ceiling
public laws for ‘3101’, as in 31 U.S.C.
3101. Date-Chapter or Effective Date New Debt Ceiling in $1012
The debt ceiling is an anachronistic Public Law
ruse, like the fiat dollars held by the Sept. 24, 1917, ch. 56 24 Sept. 1917 0.007,538,945,460
Federal Reserve Banks as collateral
for the fiat dollars we possess. That's * * *
how stupid they think we are, and Feb. 4, 1935, ch. 5 4 Feb. 1935 0.045
they've been right enough and better
than us for decades. As Charles * * *
Rangel (D-NY, 15th) put it during his 92–5 17 Mar. 1971 0.400
interview 19 March 2009 on CNBC's
Squawk Box, “Well, I wouldn't think 97–258 13 Sept. 1982 0.400
that you would know what they 98–34 26 May 1983 1.389
[Rangel's tax matters] are since what I
98–161 21 Nov. 1983 1.490
did or did not is being investigated by
a committee by me.” Cherchez la 98–302 25 May 1984 1.520 (it seems; act not explicit)
femme. 98–342 6 July 1984 1.573
Bibliography 98–475 13 Oct. 1984 1.823,800
D. Andrew Austin, The Debt Limit: 99–177 12 Dec. 1985 2.078,700
History and Recent Increases, CRS
Report RL31967, dated 29 April 99–384 21 Aug. 1986 2.111
2008. 100–119 29 Sept. 1987 2.800
Notes of 31 U.S.C. 3101, from the 101–140 8 Nov. 1989 3.122,700
U.S. Code collection of Cornell
University's Law School, 101–508 5 Nov. 1990 4.145
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode. 103–66 10 Aug. 1993 4.900
Congressional Record, daily edition, 104–121 29 Mar. 1996 5.500
20 May 1997, page H2957,
available via www.thomas.gov. 105–33 5 Aug. 1997 5.950
Bill Heniff Jr., Debt-Limit Legislation 107–199 28 Jun. 2002 6.400
in the Congressional Budget
108–24 27 May 2003 7.384
Process, CRS Report 98-453 GOV,
dated 26 April 2007. 108–415 19 Nov. 2004 8.184
Biographical Directory of the United 109–182 20 Mar. 2006 8.965
States Congress, 1774-Present,
110–91 29 Sep. 2007 9.815
bioguide.congress.gov.
Rules of the House of Representatives, 110-289 30 Jul. 2008 10.615
One Hundred Eleventh Congress, 110–343 3 Oct. 2008 11.315
http://clerk.house.gov/legislative
111–5 17 Feb. 2009 12.104
/rules111/111th.pdf.
FIRST ON CNBC: CNBC TRANSCRIPT: CNBC'S
ERIN BURNETT & MARK HAINES INTERVIEW
CONGRESSMAN CHARLES RANGEL CHAIRMAN
OF THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEAN COMMITTEE
TODAY ON “SQUAWK ON THE STREET”,
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29780989, accessed 31 July Advertisement: The creator of this newsletter seeks
2009. work as a researcher-writer. Also sought is interest in
advance purchases of copies of a
would-be self-published book described at
www.cerebralshrapnel.com. Thank you.