Trillion dollar coin plan vetoed

Forget about the government minting a one trillion US dollar coin to solve its debt-limit crisis.

Treasury department spokesman Anthony Coley said that neither his department nor the Federal Reserve believes the law can or should be used to produce such a coin to avoid a coming battle with Congress over government borrowing.

Some of President Barack Obama's liberal allies have been promoting the coin strategy.

The government has reached its 16.4 trillion US dollars borrowing limit.

By late February or early March, the Treasury will run out of ways to cover debts and could begin defaulting on government loans.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Congress has two options at its disposal: either pay the tab for its spending or send the nation into default, which would have serious economic consequences.