Or, of course, can Obama keep issuing debt despite the debt ceiling? Basically say "look, you have passed laws that FORCE me to spend X dollars. You have passed laws that FORCE me to only collect Y as taxation. Finally, you have passed a law that says I can only borrow Z. Well, Y+Z (tax revenues plus debt) aren't enough to pay for X (programs you have mandated), so you have FORCED me to break one of these laws. I therefore choose to ignore the debt ceiling law, since it runs contrary to the programs and taxation laws you have passed, leaving me stuck with either underfunding programs that you have mandated, increasing taxes unilaterally, or increasing the debt unilaterally. Since you have failed to specify what to do, and the math doesn't add up, I get to choose which law to break (since one MUST be broken) and I choose this one.
It's rather interesting, in a hypothetical way. The fact that we're even talking about this stuff is beyond absurd, and actually frightening in a way.
"I love signature blocks on the Internet. I get to put whatever the hell I want in quotes, pick a pretend author, and bang, it's like he really said it." George Washington