As the Government acknowledges, see Brief for United States 41, n. 34, this Court has previously rejected the argument that Congress has "the power to repudiate its own debts, which constitute `property'to the lender, simply in order to save money. "

When the United States, with constitutional authority, makes contracts, it has rights and incurs responsibilities similar to those of individuals who are parties to such instruments

While the AOD would not have been entered into absent the State's investigation and ability to bring an enforcement action against UPS under state law, the State's position in asserting its AOD claim is akin to that of a private contracting party.

It is plain enough that respondent is a political subdivision of the State, created for the local exercise of her sovereign powers, and that the right to borrow money is essential to its operations.

—used strong language to confirm the binding obligations of the government when it incurs debts. "To say that the Congress may withdraw or ignore [its pledge to repay on the credit of the United States] is to assume that the Constitution contemplates a vain promise, a pledge having no other sanction than the pleasure and convenience of the pledgor. This Court has given …

—and in February 1935, it sustained Roosevelt' s monetary program and the legislation that terminated the gold standard for US currency in the Gold Clause Cases

The Perry Court found unconstitutional the attempt by Congress to "override the obligation" to redeem in gold those bonds requiring payment in gold.

—the United States Supreme Court quoted with approval the following eighteenth century authority: `[W] hen a government enters into a contract with an individual, it deposes, as to the matter of the contract, its constitutional authority, and exchanges the character of legislator for that of a moral agent, with the same rights and obligations as an individual.

In another case involving gold bonds, a bondholder sued the United States as obligor for payment in gold coin as required by the bond's terms rather than in currency as required by a statute passed after the bond issued.

The Government would pay the private owner in dollars in amounts equal to the face value of the gold delivered.