President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy met late yesterday afternoon to continue negotiations on raising the debt limit. The fact that these negotiations are occurring is a win for McCarthy. Biden spent months flatly refusing to negotiate at all.

And the fact remains that House Republicans have passed the only legislation that avoids a debt default. It also includes modest restrictions on future spending. And that’s exactly what the public wants.

According to a new Associated Press poll, only 19% of the public supports Joe Biden’s extreme position of raising the debt limit with no conditions, while 63% of the public supports McCarthy’s position of only raising the debt limit if spending reductions are included. Sixteen percent of the public doesn’t believe we should raise the debt limit at all.

It’s no coincidence that McCarthy’s approval ratings are up significantly, while Biden’s ratings are down, probably because McCarthy is proving himself to be the “responsible adult” in these negotiations.

Biden also made headlines at his G-7 press conference for suggesting that he might invoke the 14th Amendment as a means of dealing with the debt limit.

When asked about a possible 14th Amendment solution to the crisis, Biden said, “I’m looking at the 14th Amendment… I think we have the authority. The question is could it be done and invoked in time.”

Once again, Biden is a silly president who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Janet Yellen, his own treasury secretary, said Sunday that the 14th Amendment isn’t “something that could be appropriately used in these circumstances.” She’s right.

Most Americans equate the 14th Amendment with the constitutional guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” But Section 4 includes an obscure clause that is getting a lot of attention these days. It states, “The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”

The Amendment’s only relevance in this debate is that Yellen “must prioritize debt repayment.” In other words, she must ensure that the interest payments on the national debt are made first based on tax receipts. Then the federal government can begin to fund other programs based on what is left over.

As The Wall Street Journal explains, “What the 14th Amendment doesn’t allow is the claim by many progressives that the president can issue new debt without the consent of Congress.”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy blasted Biden’s “crazy talk” about invoking some mythical executive power to evade the debt limit. He said:

“President Biden doesn’t think there is a single dollar of savings to be found in the federal government’s budget. He’d rather be the first president in history to default on the debt than to risk upsetting the radical socialists calling the shots for Democrats right now.”