Most people understand that the $14.x trillion debt is the sum of "debt owed to the public" (includes all entities other then branches of the federal government that hold treasury securities), and all the treasury securities held by government accounts like the Social Security Trust Fund. At present, the amount owed to the private sector (yes... that's "debt owed to the public" including the Chinese). Is approximately ten trillion dollars. So we can see that 4.x trillion is "trust funds" money. What Geithner at treasury is currently doing is using money contributed by government workers for their retirement to pay much of the government's expenses and as such "borrowing" from the government workers trust fund. If treasury did not do this then the bonds added to the trust fund would increase the total debt. So Treasury is doing a sort of "double dip" by taking the cash from the worker pay checks and not putting any bonds in the kitty. And this is supposedly LEGAL in that "as soon as the debt limit is increased" then the debts to th trust funds will be paid up in nice new treasury notes.
Does this not begin to look like the real intent of the fascist pig party? Do they not expect Obama and the Treasury to start cashing in the bonds in all the trust funds in order to keep the government "legally" solvent? It is a balancing act in that the "intergovernmental debt" (that owed to the trust funds) can be liquidated to fund government. And as that debt is liquidated, the legally defined national debt falls so as to allow more "debt to the public" to be taken on. Isn't this the REAL objective of the Republicans? Is it not their objective to destroy the trust funds?
Ask yourself what you would have Obama do. He must break the law or let the US default. Anyone who believes that the Republicans are "bluffing" is not thinking this thing through. Obama is going to have to respond with an "executive order" that will cause a constitutional crisis. And we all know who owns the court.
And if the US "defaults" on the debt then the SS trust fund is also defunct. Looks like to me that the Republicans have won the battle unless the president grows a pair and questions the constitutionality of the debt limit law.