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Comment by alex-g | Hacker News Reader

My understanding was that there were legal and technical barriers to prioritizing payments. I wouldn't count on this happening, if it requires new law to be passed or ancient computer systems to be overhauled within the next week or so.

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The bet is that the chief executive would be compelled by a looming default to stretch the law. Naturally, stretching the law does nothing for developers' timelines.

Hrmmm...this is interesting.

I wonder if there are "emergency powers" that the Executive branch can invoke (kind of like - "we are under attack" type powers) that would allow them to go around Congress and just ignore the debt limit.

I can't imagine the US defaulting on it's debts....but then again....you never know.

If the debt limit means questioning our obligations, it is an unconstitutional law and the President shouldn't be following it. Of course, that's only if the alternatives are equally illegal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion_dollar_coin

Fourteenth Amendment, section 4.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/opinion/obamas-options.htm...

The trouble is that any scenario that would require invoking the 14th amendment, et. al. would already be sending shock waves through financial markets and economies around the world... effectively, putting a big question mark next our political will and the full faith and credit of the government... ironically, this would also blow a massive hole in the budget.

The fallout would be epic.

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