default on what?

If the debt limit is not raised, we risk the government defaulting on our debt.
If the debt ceiling is raised by one of the draconian measures, we the government WILL default on it moral responsibility to the nation.

the best outcome is a heavy tax that will hit every American with a Credit card, house loan, college loan, or any type of loan. The worst is to take our current economic debacle and make it a real great depression, more than doubling the real unemployment number. Massive, massive human misery.

I am not in favor and do not support exchanging the debt ceiling for cuts to SS or Medicare.

The problem will be that if we don't raise the debt ceiling, the remedies forced upon us by international monetary fund will be to cut SS, Medicare, and everything else. That is what they do in every country that they deal with.

Draconinan cuts to raise the debt ceiling and failure to raise the debt ceiling in some ways is a win win for Teapublicans. They will get what they want either way.

It's either the workers will have to contribute a larger portion of their earnings or seniors will have to take a cut or both.

and other Teapublicans.

I am not in favor of renaming the U.S. the Republic of Tea.

A Democrat who tries to cut Social Security or Medicare is a Republican. Get the wealthy to give more, those of us at the low end of the scale are tapped out.

You can change that but then you are touching social security. Means testing is a no no for those who don't want it touched.

Remove the cap and make it a flat tax right up to the wealthiest.

Read "How to fix Social Security". It can be done without reducing benefits, raising the age, or forcing most of Americans to pay more of what they do not have. You are not means testing, you just remove the cap.

And you take in dollars now and create larger obligations later when social security is demographically in worse shape.

Those who make more than the cap should not have their donations limited.

The impact of default will be most acutely in the cost of government borrowing (interest rates paid for federal bonds and notes issued.) In a sense the default will raise the cost of the trillions of debt the government has issued.

There will be no tax.

There will be some federal government vendors who won't be paid on time. There will be some federal programs cut/eliminated.

Other than that... nothing.

Thinking it will just affect the government is fantasy. Look at other counties that have defaulted on their debts and done this. Look at Greece, where the European Union is forcing austerity on the government and forcing them to end their social safety net in order to service their debt.

By the way, I know this is a surprise, but Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, teachers salaries, police salaries are all government programs.

not give a shit about revenue...tell our payers to go fuck themselves! We can send Cheney to tell them in person (shotgun is extra charge).