Terry, while I appreciate the sentiment regarding equality, I disagree with your conclusions. Men may be created equal in the eyes of God, but certainly not in terms of wealth or opportunity. Only those with excess wealth can take advantage of investment opportunities. Look at evidence from the Great Depression or the Great Recession -- those with limited means were forced to sell their assets at discounted prices, while those with excess wealth were able to acquire those assets at discounted prices. Furthermore, those with greater wealth have better access to education and contacts, giving them an even greater advantage. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer until, like every game of Monopoly, all the money becomes concentrated among fewer and fewer people until there is one winner and many losers. In short, any completely free, capitalist economy provides those with existing wealth an inherent advantage, which is precisely why taxation must be progressive.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the Constitutionality of the debt ceiling. If the 14th Amendment states that the validity of the public debt shall not be questioned, then how is the debt ceiling even legal? Regardless, it doesn't really matter. The US Treasury is empowered to issue currency. Since they are legally bound to make certain payments, they must do so by either borrowing or printing money. If they can't do the former, it seems to me they are legally bound to do the latter. It doesn't have to be a single trillion dollar platinum coin, but it could just print large denomination currency and "sterilize" it by selling assets from its own balance sheet to offset the amount printed.

Connor, your solution would be counter-productive, because it would perpetuate inequality. If the best students get to choose the best teachers, then that means the most at-risk students get stuck with the worst teachers. Those students who are most prepared, either because they have supportive parents who have time and resources to help them with homework, who actually get to eat breakfast before they come to school, are genetically gifted, etc., would benefit from better teachers. Meanwhile, those students who are already disadvantaged would get the worst teachers.