Clarification wanted on US government debt

[DRumsfeld2000]

US debt is broken into 2 parts:-

1) Debt held by the public
2) Intragovernmental holdings

The total amount is called 'Public debt outstanding'

Often when people talk about the US debt they only mention 'Debt held by the public'. I was watchiing an interview by David Walker and he kept describing debt this way. Why is this? Is it for PR reasons?

[D-Mack]

Re: Clarification wanted on US government debt

When the gov borrows from itself, like from the SS fund they issue treasuries. Does it make a difference ?

The Treasury securities issued to the public and to the Government Trust Funds (Intragovernmental Holdings) then become part of the total debt.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/r...publicdebt.htm

I often see more categories on debt


http://www.economist.com/node/21524652