[nhaehnle]

If by "default" you mean "voluntary default", perhaps yes, in the context of the debt ceiling debate.

However, since the US government cannot be forced into default - after all, the US government runs the USD system, and all its obligations are denominated in USD - this is all just political posturing.

It's kind of depressing how effective this posturing is. It's a testament to the terrible state of public education about fundamentals of our monetary systems.