Spec this, spec that. Did you know that there are -exactly- the same amount of 12v pins in a 1x and a 16x slot? They can both handle the same amount of power. There is no limit that the motherboard can enforce anyways as far as power consumption goes form the PCI-E slot. The graphics card will pull whatever it wants from the PCI-E slot, regardless of 16x or 1x.
Yes, that is true but there sure are a lot more grounds on a x16 link than a x1. Sorta the same as a 6 pin and 8 pin pci-e plug. They both have the same strand count on 12V lines, yet one is rated higher due to extra grounding alone.
And the motherboard not being able to regulate itself is what we are fighting against, according to PCI-e spec the cards are supposed to play nice and to spec. If the mobo was smart, it would sense an over current condition on the pci-e bus and shut off when overload it instead of just burning out the 24pin header. Mining is not a typical usage scenario though, not by a long shot, so there's no real reason for there to be costly protection when it's so easy to limit the add-on cards.
Would it work, you bet! I really wouldn't want to do it that ways though, not with my hardware.
USB risers will get cheaper again, either if you are buying them from me or I force the chinese guy into stopping the ridiculous price gouging. If that doesn't work, wait till litecoin/scrypt settles down