Something the Dog Said wrote: Really, I believe that those holders of Treasury bonds that mature while the Treasury has insufficient funds to pay might disagree with you in regard of no "default".
The interest due on the national debt in 2010 was in the neighborhood of $170 Billion for the year. The federal government takes in more than that in one month on average ($198 Billion or so in 2010). All that is happening right now with the existing debt is old notes being rolled over into new ones. We're not actually paying off the old debt, we're just selling a new note for it along with the notes for the extra $1.5 Trillion a year the federal government wants to spend that it doesn't have the money for. Setting aside the $18 Billion or so a month needed to make the interest payments, we could go on turning over the principle amount indefinitely and still have $180 Billion a month to spend. Where's the default?
