Under Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution, “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by Law.” And yet in 2009, Congress under the leadership of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid adopted legislation that boosted the U.S. quota at the International Monetary Fund by $8 billion and created an open-ended $100 billion credit line to the organization.

The $64 billion quota is money the IMF already has at its disposal, while the $100 billion credit line is like a home equity loan or credit card limit that has not been tapped.