Political scientist predicted that the American system of government was unstable and would collapse

[Octafish]

41. No. You're wrong.

38. No it has terminal functional problems.
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The fact of the matter is that there is nothing the republicans in the house are doing that is unconstitutional, so for starters, this is an example of yet another unforeseen outcome. The original constitution institutionalized slavery, regionalism, property rights over human rights, restricted full civil rights to property owning white men, wasn't clear about the role of the Supreme Court, and defined an upper legislative chamber that quickly became an institution of open corruption.

The whole mess disolved in less than 100 years in a bloody civil war, and was reconstituted in republic 2.0, a new and different corrupt mess that carried on for another 70 years until it too reached a crisis in the form of the Great Depression. The current version, republic 3.0, is also at a crisis point. The original constitution is more or less irrelevant, claims to be the true standard bearers for that piece of parchment are absurd.

The problem isn't with the Constitution, it's with the people who think they're above it. A Department of Justice that enforces the Constitution and the nation's laws equally for all will go a long way toward solving the nation's problems as well as taking out the corrupt Congress, federal agencies and conservative neo-NAZI courts.

As for your example of the current budget crisis, President Obama has kept his ace up his sleave. The 14th Amendment enables him to protect the good faith and credit of the USA, if he wants to use it.