What if China and Japan the major creditors of US reach an agreement to defer the US debt repayment. China and Japan own the largest set of US treasuries with certain interest rate. US needs cash to service the debt - in current situation this cash will be better spent on re-creating jobs. This is one type of response to a debt-default situation. Convert the debt into equity or preferred equity with payments deferred over time with a slight moratorium included.
I think this should be a good aim for US political establishment to start off the recovery process. It will be even better if China and other US creditors unilaterally take this stand.
Or possibly I am going nuts.