i completely disagree. its not just politics as mentioned bellow, which is a very key point. The us government couldn't just keep printing money to pay for all of its deficit. the money would become worthless, and at a point it would be like breathing in a bag, but that doesn't matter as it would have collapsed before that ever happened.
the dept to GDP ratio (as well as printing money) has a huge effect on a countries ability to issue bonds, just ask the PIIGS. interests rates on bonds would rise very quickly making the annual deficit larger and since all interest rates in the country are based off the US treasury interest rate (the risk free rate), they would rise too, even if the US' interest rate was at 0. that'd make any recession get out of control as credit froze up.
it'd be the fed's worst nightmare. they would loose control of interest rates during a recession while the central government would loose its ability to borrow money.
I'm afraid that saying "just ask the PIIGS" is to miss the crucial point. Those countries are members of the Eurozone, and therefore their governments are currency users rather than issuers. Therefore, an analysis that draws upon your everyday household experience carries at least some water, even though it is entirely inapplicable to a monetarily sovereign government such as the US government.
Other than that, I can only recommend that you try to consider all the relevant dynamic effects in the macroeconomy. For example, if money would indeed become worthless, this would not happen overnight due to the immense inertia of an economy as large as the US economy. It would be a drawn out process.
Throughout that process, as a consequence of money losing value, the nominal GDP would increase, and therefore the debt-to-GDP ratio would decrease, which means that the system has a very strong self-stabilizing tendency.
the dept to GDP ratio (as well as printing money) has a huge effect on a countries ability to issue bonds, just ask the PIIGS. interests rates on bonds would rise very quickly making the annual deficit larger and since all interest rates in the country are based off the US treasury interest rate (the risk free rate), they would rise too, even if the US' interest rate was at 0. that'd make any recession get out of control as credit froze up.
it'd be the fed's worst nightmare. they would loose control of interest rates during a recession while the central government would loose its ability to borrow money.