It would be negligent, and could be catastrophic, if the U.S. does not pay its debts. It will happen if congressional Republicans continue to block efforts to raise the debt ceiling. It could affect Social Security and Medicare benefits and also push the economy into recession.

Both the U.S. Treasury and Congressional Budget Office say that the U.S. will be unable to pay its debts as early as the first or second week of June.

A default on debt will be a stain on the trust placed on the U.S. that it pays its debts every time and on time.

No one really knows what will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised because the U.S. has never defaulted on payment of its debt. But Republican congressional legislators seem to be willing to take a wait-and-see approach.

Try not paying your mortgage payments and see what happens.

Stuart Shimazu

Kapahulu

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