S&P fires back amid criticism over downgrade

[steve2470]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1035663--s-p-fires-back-amid-criticism-over-downgrade?bn=1

A day after Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the creditworthiness of the United States government, the ratings agency offered a full-throated defence of its decision, calling the bitter standoff between President Barack Obama and Congress over raising the debt ceiling a “debacle,” and warning that further downgrades may lie ahead.

In an unusual Saturday conference call with reporters, senior S&P officials insisted the ratings firm hadn't overstepped its bounds by focusing on the political paralysis in Washington as much as fiscal policy in determining the new rating.

“The debacle over the debt ceiling continued until almost the midnight hour,” said John Chambers, chairman of S&P's sovereign ratings committee.

Another S&P official, David Beers, added that “fiscal policy, like other government policy, is fundamentally a political process.”

[Poll_Blind]

1. On the face of it, S&P is absolutely right about how dysfunctional our government is.

In a moment of uncanny prophesy, President Obama on two occasions specifically went out of his way to describe the fact that the US "didn't have a AAA government".

However, I'm not into ratings and I'm not sure exactly how defensible it is to put things like this in the report and certainly to give it weight.

I mean, come 2012 you think Obama is not going to point out that S&P specifically called out the Republicans for the downgrade? That's long term, though. Short term is probably going to be very uncomfortable.

PB

[stevedeshazer]

2. Sweet Jeezus, what a mess.

All thanks to the Teabaggers and the corporocrats who egged them on.

Hello, inflation and higher interest rates.

Geniuses, all right.

:grr:

[bluestateguy]

3. Just a hunch I have

and that's that S&P bosses are going to be visited by curious IRS agents in the next 9 to 12 months.

Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon and Clinton will all tell you, tax audits are a bitch.