It is not clear what the legal priority is among the Treasury's obligations, whether contractual such as bond debt or statutory such as social security.

ECONOMIST: Talk of America defaulting on its debt is just that

Among other arguments, Sprint has stated that the complex financing provisions of the DISH Proposal must also be considered in light of the existing Clearwire contractual arrangements (including debt arrangements) and that it is not clear from Sprint's review that such financing is permitted by or would comply with Clearwire's existing arrangements.

ENGADGET: Dish Network makes an offer to buy Clearwire, even though Sprint was already buying Clearwire

As you know and have written on extensively, the ELA debt for IBRC was administered in 3 contractual arrangements between IBRC and Central Bank of Ireland, the Master Loan Repurchase Agreement (MLRA), Special Master Loan Repurchase Agreement (SMRA) and the Facility Deed (FD).

FORBES: Euro Exit Scenarios

The euro itself, which in principle ought to be immune from these contractual disputes, might soon enter a real currency crisis, either from the sovereign debt the European Central Bank is buying with freshly printed money or from general negligence.

FORBES: Magazine Article