Reply #21: US Treausry bills are not callable by either the holder or the US govt.

[Statistical]

When the govt runs out of cash (which lately is on a near continuous basis) the Treasury sells bonds. It then uses the cash received from those bond auctions to pay (and set aside funds) for programs like TARP or building a new aircraft carrier.

So the debt WAS already issued. The debt was autctioned and sold as soon as TARP passed because the Treasury is obligated to sell bonds to cover shortfall in revenue (deficit spending). That debt can NEVER be called (paid early), undone, or erased. The bonds we issued in 2009 will not be repaid until 2014 (for 5 year bonds) and 2019 (for 10 year bonds). Even if the US govt suddenly has a $2T surplus that debt can't be "undone".

So the debt exists. The "good news" is since we have so MUCH debt we have hundreds of billions of dollars coming due each month and we can paid down the national debt by using this cash to pay those bonds and not issue new ones.

BTW: I am against repaying this debt because it is stupid and a PR student however it is possible to pay down the debt which is why I corrected you.