# u.s. government **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 22, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702 "2003-02-22T02:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![factoryrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7cd45c/32.png) [@factoryrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/factoryrat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/1 "2003-02-22T02:25:38Z")
did the united states of america ever declare bankruptcy? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/2 "2003-02-22T02:27:45Z")
No. And as a fellow Michigander, let me tell you to FEEL FREE TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS. THEY ARE FREE! ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/3 "2003-02-22T02:29:19Z")
no, but more importantly, did ee cummings? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/4 "2003-02-22T03:34:35Z")
Why would we declear bankruptcy? Other countries owe **us**! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/5 "2003-02-22T03:57:33Z")
How’d you like to be the bill collecter stuck with THAT account? We got nukes! Just try and collect!! Mwahahaha!!! ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/6 "2003-02-22T05:20:00Z")
Who the heck would you file with? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/7 "2003-02-22T05:38:19Z")
Well we’re not far from moral bankruptcy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/8 "2003-02-22T05:44:57Z")
_sigh_ This should be sub-headed: _When GQ threads end up in the BBQ Pit by mistake_. Welcome to the SDMB, \*\* factoryrat \*\*. On th’ off-chance that I’m right, you might want to appeal to the mods to close this, and start your questions under General Questions. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/9 "2003-02-22T05:58:35Z")
According to [this site](http://autarchic.tripod.com/files/heist.html) , there was a bankruptcy. > [@](#): > > When a government goes bankrupt, it loses its sovereignty. In 1933 the U.S. declared bankruptcy, as expressed in Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6073, 6102, 6111, and 6260, House Joint Resolution 192 of June 5, 1933, confirmed in Perry v. U.S., (1935) 294 U.S. 330, 381; 79 L.ED. 912, also 31 USC 5112, 5119 and 12 USC 95a. Could just be another alarmist page, though. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/10 "2003-02-22T06:27:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\* > Could just be another alarmist page, though. \*\* Yes, it’s alarmist. Those were the executive orders taking the US off the gold standard. As I read it, Perry v. US is a case where someone has an old gold certificate. The executive order said that gold certificates would be worth a certain price per ounce of gold. This guy tried to cash in his certificate and the government wanted to compensate him at the price in the executive order. He argued that he should be compensated at the current price of gold on the market, and the executive order was unconstitutional, because, by paying the lower price, the government was unconstitutionally taking his property. The court ruled it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/11 "2003-02-22T06:47:21Z")
Cool. Thanks for that, **Captain Amazing**. Stuff like that page is probably what sparked the OP in the first place. Cheers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/12 "2003-02-22T15:26:38Z")
in soviet russia, bankruptcy declares you ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/13 "2003-02-22T16:11:26Z")
It is a little known fact that the U.S. government did in fact go bankrupt back in 1995 because Bill Clinton spent a good portion of the federal budget on hookers. He covered it up by selling the White House and capital building to France to raise money. We rent those buildings back from France now rather than own them outright. When George W took office, he tried to buy the White House back so that he wouldn’t have to worry about eviction but the U.S.'s credit scores were still too low to get a mortage. That is why it is such a big deal that France opposes the war with Iraq. The U.S. knows that if we do something that they don’t like, we will be back out on our asses in a New York second. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/14 "2003-02-22T16:55:17Z")
You forgot to mention that Goerge hasn’t been paying the rent because France has refused to fix the running toilet in The Executive Shitter. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/15 "2003-02-23T04:54:35Z")
As you can see from [this story](http://www.theonion.com/onion3827/debt-consolidation_loan.html), Bush considered bankruptcy but found a better solution! Actually, it might not be a bad idea to post stuff like this in the Pit. This way, we can cut directly to the smartass comments and political bile. It saves a step. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/16 "2003-02-23T07:57:10Z")
You’re quite correct, jklann. Do you suppose you could get the rabid anti-Bush and anti-Clinton camps to commence exercising even 1% of Critical Thinking skills? ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-government/156702/17 "2003-02-23T20:09:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\*No. And as a fellow Michigander, let me tell you to FEEL FREE TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS. THEY ARE FREE! \*\* Damn, I was anticipating a career as a venture capitalist.