It's not just an idea; it's in our Constitution!

Fourteenth Amendment, section 4: "The validity of the public debt of the United States...shall not be questioned."

This seems to be in contradiction with the first amendment

otterley 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's not what "shall not be questioned" means. It's a term of art meaning that the Government cannot refuse to pay valid claims on its debt.

	▲	nly 12 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		As long as the debt is in its own currency printing to repay is always an option.
	▲	milkytron 14 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Ah, that makes sense

OJFord 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Read it not as 'may not be', but 'nothing shall be done that should give cause to'.