Is Paying Down Federal Debt Now Impossible ???

Here is what one analyst has to say about US federal debt:

The US has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor.

Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.

A lot of folks don’t realize that, since the end of World War II, the US government’s total tax revenue has been almost constant at roughly 17% of GDP.

In other words, even though the actual tax rates themselves rise and fall, the government’s ‘slice’ of the economic pie is almost always the same—17%.

I’ve worked out a mathematical model which shows that, even with absurd assumptions (7%+ GDP growth for years at a time, low interest rates, etc.), it is simply not feasible for the US government to ‘grow’ its way out.

Default has become the only option.

http://www.sovereignman.com/trends/paying-down-the-debt-is-now-almost-mathematically-impossible-15729/

Isn't this one of the reasons Senator Elizabeth Warren is worried about the rollback of Dodd-Frank? It should be:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/warren-leads-liberal-democrats-rebellion-over-provisions-in-1-trillion-spending-bill/2014/12/10/c5c915e4-80b5-11e4-9f38-95a187e4c1f7_story.html

Now, some Constitutional scholars claim that the US cannot default on its debt. Here's one example:

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/us-cannot-constitutionally-default-its-debt-says-constitutional-scholar

But let's take a closer look at the wording of the 14th Amendment:

4: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

Two phrases are of particular importance:
"... authorized by law ..." and
"... shall not be questioned ..."

The current increase in US public debt is NOT authorized by law. The last budget deal was achieved by agreeing to NOT enforce any law with respect to the debt ceiling. Our debt is now increasing lawlessly.

In addition, this amendment only means that the validity of US public debt "shall not be questioned" within our jurisdiction. It certainly does not stop other nations and international organizations from questioning the debt. They can stop buying our debt, and they can demand gold as payment for our debts to them instead of accepting worthless US dollars.

Sure, maybe we "can't" default, but at the rate we're going it is bound to happen whether we like it or not.

Update: This report confirms my claims. The debt ceiling was suspended in 2014 until March 15, 2015. And now some additional shenanigans appear to be going on:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/40-days-treasury-says-debt-has-been-frozen-18112975000000

Ours is now a lawless government operating almost wholly against the US Constitution. Dr. Ron Paul is right - we are on the verge of a giant collapse.