By: Cahir O'Doherty | Published Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 2:37 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 10:24 PM
America's credit rating was intentionally sabotaged by Congressional Republicans.
That's the conclusion that most economic observers and Wall Street have just come to about the debt ceiling mess.
In response to this perception - and to the recent dangerous power plays to damage the president in Washington - Standard & Poor yesterday historically downgraded the United States of America's credit rating from AAA to AA+.
The agency was responding to Washington's apparent complete inability to reach an agreement on how to address the large fiscal gaps in our economy, or how to align revenues with spending commitments.
Closing the financial gaps, it is generally accepted, will require tax increases and the closure of tax giveaways to the rich, otherwise the money can simply not be raised. Remember that today taxes as a percentage of GDP are at historic lows and corporate tax receipts as a percentage of GDP are also at historic lows.
Not so, say the Republican party, who have now elevated tax cuts to the realm of a near religious faith. Taxes, they claim, should never go up - only down. It makes perfect sense to them that CEO's and hedge fund managers should pay lower tax rates than high school teachers. We should never return to the dark days of the 1990's or the tax rates of that era, they cry.
Add to that insuperable creed a blanket refusal to compromise with Democrats on any major legislative issue - and add a general Tea Party contempt for a working government and its international relations and commitments - and yesterday's downgrade can be seen for what it is: cold water over the faces of suicidal ideologues.
Everyone in America, from fiscal reform groups to the general public, had accepted that spending cuts and tax increases were inevitable. But Congressional Republicans now believe that anything that is requested by President Obama must be refused by them, regardless of the ultimate cost to the nation.
The result was a modest deal composed of spending cuts - and even that was opposed by a sizable number of Congressional Republicans.
In seeking to the end the Obama presidency Congressional Republicans have overreached and brought about an end to the American Empire instead.
(Tea Party members cheer after being blamed for the Credit downgrade)
I'm going to blame Bush because Bush inherited a record surplus and turned it (via the biggest tax give aways to the rich in American history and two idiot wars) into the biggest deficit in American history. Thanks to his idiot presidency 64%, of Americans now don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
PhlutiePhan | Aug 09, 2011, 10:34 AM EDT
We are three years into the Oba Administration. How long are you going to blame Bush? Sure, there are waves from throwing a rock in the pond. However, there is a new rock that has been thrown. Criticize both.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:30 PM EDT
The problem of deficits could be solved very easily - tax the rich, something that Obama and his right wing shills like band want us to forget about. Tax rates for the rich were at their lowest from 1924 to 1929 when they were less than 25%, and again from 2000 to 2011, when they dropped to about 35%, not counting tax loop holes. Both of those rates of low taxation were triggers for depressions.
The tax rate for the rich climbed to 79% under FDR and Truman (with a brief jump during the war and then were raised again under Eisenhower to 90%. They were steadily lowered until they again reached into the mid 20% range in 1988 which triggered with the Crash of 1988.
peterson | Aug 08, 2011, 08:34 PM EDT
No,,--- The wild spending of the trillions borrowed by obuma from the Chinese to finance his "stimulus" payments to questional recipients with no strings attached caused the debt. He cannot blame that on Bush !! The Democrats will have a real awakening in 2012 ! Hurrah for the Tea Party. Ireland could use one !!
seanomelbourne | Aug 08, 2011, 07:35 PM EDT
The teahadist are despised in Australia the results of their economic madness is stretching the globe.They should crawl back into their trailers and leave the world to those who care. A bunch of morons destroying a proud and respected U.S.A.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 04:31 PM EDT
Today was Teabaggergeddon. Thank you Tea-Baggers, my 401(k) thanks you as well. Thank you for being hell-bent on getting Obama out, even if they have to push us into double-digit unemployment, and screw the economy and our credit rating for the next 10 years.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 04:08 PM EDT
Our corporations are enjoying record profits and tax breaks and they are not creating a single new job. Trickle down economic theory is bull#$it.
JohnQCitizen | Aug 08, 2011, 01:21 PM EDT
The Entire World sees what The Grand Old Tea Party has done to the U.S. They are to blame for the downfall. They are bad for America and bad for the World, nothing more than terrorists. Vote Them out America.
Josephboland | Aug 08, 2011, 11:47 AM EDT
Balogna. You are spouting the liberal credo that spending our money cures all. Does that work in Ireland? No not here either.
chesapeake | Aug 08, 2011, 11:01 AM EDT
The road to ruined credit as more attributable to the largesse of the Obama regime than any other set of circumstances. The billions upon billiions of of dollars spent on government jobs and unions, taking over of General Motors then giving it to the unions... giving, giving and giving while taking away the incentives for private industry jobs. I will admit that the Republican budget was not well thought out... they should have demanded much more and stuck it out. The Dems already knew that the present administration had almost guaranteed that our credit was shot and Obama was at his weakest. Now, they have given him more life. The Dems have done what Jimmy abd Bill could not... virtually destroying our ability to right the ship peacefully. doiZBikk
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:24 AM EDT
"I will tell you ladies and gentlemen, I detest and despise everything the left stands for. How anybody can endorse and embrace an ideology that has killed a billion people in the last century is beyond me." - Tea Party Nation CEO Judson Phillips, speaking at a Republican event in Wisconsin. That's the GOP's idea of a politician these days.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:23 AM EDT
Verizon made $27 billion in profit in just the last quarter, but wants employees to give up some of their health and pension benefits. That's the new American economy the GOP wants to protect with tax cuts and corporate giveaways.
bonjouryall | Aug 08, 2011, 06:53 AM EDT
Harry Reid himself pointed out the Obama stimuls did not work. So maybe this will. The Tea Party has fairly pointed out that when revenues have been raised in the past, the money is not used to pay down the debt but is spent for 'needs' -usually several times over. My recollection also is that taxes will go up when the Bush tax cuts expire soon. On the other hand, the wealthy have gotten much richer while the middle class has dwindled due to unlimited free trade pushed by Bush/Clinton. And many people are hurting badly right now. While I do favor taxing the rich more, and ending loopholes, I say taxing imports from countries that do not have similar environmental standards is the most fair way to proceed, with the most immediate payoff for creating American jobs. Lastly, social security has always been underfunded on a personal standpoint - it relies upon more people paying in than the number paying out. It is only fair to require higher contributions since the national demographics have changed the old unsustainable ratio.
hollabackgurl | Aug 07, 2011, 07:48 PM EDT
Sorry Peggy P but speaker John Boehner loudly claimed that he 'got 98% of what he wanted in the deficit' debacle. So that's Boehner and the GOP's idea of leadership and that's exactly where to pin the blame for the credit downgrade. Just ask S&P, they are on record for having done so themselves.
seanomelbourne | Aug 07, 2011, 07:02 PM EDT
The party of no is in disarray run by the "credit down grade teaparty"
Peggy P | Aug 07, 2011, 03:21 PM EDT
Mr. O'Doherty who, names please, were these so called economic observers and people on Wall Street
who concluded the US credit rating was sabotaged by the GOP? You sound like the usual news sources for the "National Enquirer". We all know that blanket refusal to compromise started with the Democratic House, Senate and White House in 2008 to 2010. Remember when they passed & voted on legislative issues behind closed doors which they never read or let members of the GOP read. I find it strange that you blame the Tea Party or maybe not. Was it not for them the Democratic commitment to lowering the dept would be zero. It is because trust that the people responsible for lowereing the dept will not do so is the reason they lowered our credit rating. God Bless America and help her until we can clean up the White House and Senate.
jamthecat | Aug 07, 2011, 12:06 PM EDT
The GOP took hostages and behaved like terrorists, making ludicrous demands that had no basis in reality. Obama caved, over and over, even as their demands increased to the point of the ridiculous. And now the US is being ruined as well as lectured by S&P, who have yet to be right about anything when it comes to rating government bonds. This would be comical if it didn't mean disaster to so many Americans. What's truly diseased is how the Tea Party demanded this nonsense, even though they will be hurt by it, as well. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
tempranillo | Aug 07, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
S&P are imperious whores, looking for a marketing advantage. Their assessments are tired shibboleths that no one trades on---probably the only group whose assessments warrant greater scorn are TV weathermen.Once again, S&P closes the door after the horse leaves the barn. The feckless bas***** are masters of that arcane art.
With nauseating pomposity, S&P tells us, "In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging." As if they would have effected the downgrade in a robust economy.
The downgrade to AA , Outlook Negative is both a cynical joke and serious matter. We're not AA either. While we all know we are in a financial mess, I wonder what unintended consequences will heighten uncertainty come Monday. I wonder how "the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging" is helped.
BrendaG | Aug 07, 2011, 09:19 AM EDT
Oh yes If you are trying to point fingers at our ecomony I suggest you get your own house in order first along with your Euro comrades. At least we are not bankrupt and begging for bailouts from other countries because we didnt control ourselves from acting like a kid in a candy store !!
BrendaG | Aug 07, 2011, 09:14 AM EDT
You have been drinking too much of the Obama Kool-
aid. Obama has been his own worst enemy for his refusal to negoiate a real economic package. remember this man never has had a job nor employed workers-we dont think he really gets it.The "rich" as u put it already pay more than 50% of the taxes in the US. How about millions of illegals who drain the system and pay nothing.I work and pay my fair share-but do not want to pay for those who wont.
EphraimKibbey | Aug 07, 2011, 01:42 AM EDT
Part II - America has never defaulted on a debt and both countries and individuals are bending over backwards to loan us money at the lowest rates. It is the best deal around. We borrow at the lowest rate going, we spend it on stimulus, every dollar spent on stimulus returns a dollar and 61 cents to our GDP. ($1.61/$1.00)X100% = 161% return on our investment or 61% interest. We tax that increase and pay back the loan and the interest on it. I have money invested at 5% but I can borrow at 1%. Should I take money out of my investment to buy something (like a new bridge) or should I keep it invested and borrow what I need? Duh!!! This is really very simple math, people, and it is being corrupted to run Obama out of office at the expense of our country's economy and people's lives. Shame on the GREED! Shame on the inhumanity!
EphraimKibbey | Aug 07, 2011, 01:37 AM EDT
I can't believe, in 33 comments, that no one mentioned S&P's 2 TRILLION dollar math error in calculating our debt to spending ratio that made it look like our debt was climbing much faster than it, in fact, is. When the error was shown to them, they went ahead and lowered our rating anyway for spite saying that the "brinksmanship" of the recent crisis made them less confident that the Republicans would ever work with the Democrates to solve the financial problem. While we can all agree on that possibility, it is not something that the bond raters have historically used to rate a countries chance of default. The other 2 agencies kept us at AAA but with a negative outlook which sorta says the same thing without the actual downgrade. In general, lets remember that these are the agencies that rated the bundled morgages (what a concept - then the bundlers bet money that they would fail - that was criminal!) as AAA when in fact, they were a few good loans wrapped around a core of losers. As to America's actual solvency, where do you think most of the money lost by world wide markets the last two weeks went for safe keeping - into good old US Treasury Bonds (with what was left over going into gold.)
hollabackgurl | Aug 07, 2011, 12:35 AM EDT
The extremist Tea Party has minimal public support in the USA but they still managed to hold both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party hostage to their kamikaze economic theory. Now we're really going to pay for their extremism.
seanomelbourne | Aug 06, 2011, 10:26 PM EDT
People have short memories when it suits them McNamara.
McNamara31 | Aug 06, 2011, 08:50 PM EDT
AengusOg..."Closer attention, favorite color?" Da? Goldman Sachs chairman Henry Paulson was made Treasury Secretary by the Bush administration and soon after went on to dismantel the "New Deal" financial regulations that had been put in place to protect "us" from another crash of 1929 and subsequent depression.Those are the facts you can easily look them up. Under Paulson/Bush bank debt ratio's were allowed to increase from 12 to 1 up to 40 to 1,feeding the CDO frenzy then the crash of 2008.The mortgage companies could not have taken on the increased debt if the original safeguards had not been changed.
Skibberrean | Aug 06, 2011, 08:24 PM EDT
DITTO......MotherIrish....You have it completely correct!!
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 07:29 PM EDT
@hollabackgurl You are certainly correct when you identify payoffs and political corruption as a threat to Democracy. Unfortunately, political office begs corruption. Is it ignorance, naivete, or venality that has President Obama surround himself with so many economic advisors with dirty hands from Goldman Sachs? It is up to ourselves to pay closer attention to the quality of our representatives instead of voting for our favorite color.
McNamara31 | Aug 06, 2011, 07:20 PM EDT
IC posters, we better get "our" collective act together and realize our problems are bigger than the continual Dem vs Republican banter. The dollar was always considered worldwide as the “safe currency” to run to. We are losing that standard. It's time to return statesmen to Washington to do the real work, kick out the lobbyists, and tell the rednecks our problems are not answered with a simple "no". If our economy goes down we take Europe with us. Then whose left to take “our” place?
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 07:10 PM EDT
@Hollabackgurl- To recognize that SS is a failed program does not imply abandoning it. At this point in time, abandoning SS is not an option. Limiting the scope of entitlements attached to it certainly seems sensible. Benefits could be limited to those who contributed and their dependents. As for the entitlements many others receive from SS, let the politicians fund them directly through a separate and identifiable welfare program.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 07:07 PM EDT
No taxes on the wealthy! They need every cent to form corporations, buy politicians, and upend democracy - this costs money!
seanomelbourne | Aug 06, 2011, 07:02 PM EDT
Cahir is only quoting experts and he is correct.It's as plain as the nose on your right wing ignorant faces that the party of no set out to destroy Obama and may well have destroyed the U.S. economy in there quest. Even Niall Cavouto has lost patients with the teaparty and quoted that boehner privateley admits that to attain a modest decrease in the debt the top 1% should pay more.Obama put $4trillion dollars of cuts on the table and Boehner was gutless. As an outsider looking in I find it incredible that people like Doocy,Hannity,Varney and co. and the rest of The Fox pundits smirking and rubbing their collective paws in glee thinking it's Obamas swan song.Why should they care they are immune from the day to day trials of the middle class.The American people are better than that and the GOP is in for an election shock.The GOP will destroy itself and the looneys on the right will take over and then they will have a Greek moment.
Pittsburghkid | Aug 06, 2011, 04:40 PM EDT
nteresting obseveration, but wrong. Tax increases won't help anything. Britain cut spending and increased taxes, but it did not work. No wonder Ireland is one of the PIIGs of the EU with thinking like this. Ohh yes, how is that Diversity Lottory coming along. I heard the GOP congress past a law, which Obama will veto, if the Senate pass it. Good Luck with that.
MotherIrish | Aug 06, 2011, 04:34 PM EDT
Let's see... The Dems had time after time to deal with the debt limit and did not they just passed extensions. Same way with the FAA bill.. They had the power and sat with their thumbs up their back side and then added enormously to the debt by passing Obamacare before writing the bill. SS was NEVER intended to pay all of a retirees expenses. They were to SAVE - funny word isn't it -- and supplement that saving with SS. Medicare was never to pay for Viagra, etc. We MUST have a balanced budget amendment. If local, county and states and I must do that, then the US government needs to do the same, not just raise the debt limit. S & P will back down but we have to stop sending billions to other countries who are over spending and use those funds to pay our own debt down. Greece, Ireland, Portugal etc need to learn to live with in their INCOME too.
It is not the republicans who fussed with this for YEARS, It was the DEMOCRATS --- get it right!!
mairdemalone | Aug 06, 2011, 03:30 PM EDT
America was sabotaged long ago, by Nixon, Kissinger, Greenspan and Bush Senior. When Nixon and Kissinger when to China, they made deals that would benefited the Rich -who don't have any loyalty to any country. I could be wrong... but didn't Greenspan change the way the Federal Bank did business, around that time? Didn't he insure Chinese investors would get rich making American goods, while at the same time, the steel mills were shut down, manufacturing jobs were sent to China and so on and so on... Nixon is dead. So I say: 'Charge George Bush Senior, Greenspan and Kissinger with High Treason!'
And how come both Democrats and Republicans spent only one night agreeing to pay billions to the bankers on Wall Street? Something stinks to high heaven in Washington and it ain't the smell coming from the poor, unwashed millions of good Americans who can't find work! -these are the people who do not count. So I say: 'Charge Benanke, Pawson, Geithner Dodd, Boehner, Reed, Greenspan and Kissinger with High Treason.'
What was the ordinary loyal American did to deserve such a pack or vanity driven, self-rightious wasters of time and money? Wasn't it the "ordinary" American who fought in every war. (And thanks to the avarice of the few, many of those loyal Americans had to join the military because there wasn't any work for them in their home states. They are the ones sent to the Front Line too. So I say: 'Enough, is enough!!!' Don't buy anything that is not made in America or Canada, and don't buy from box stores, buy from your local farmer, butcher, baker and on and on... Don't leave the rescue of America to the greedy people in Washington, because they are so vain, they'd want to jump on the band wagon for Glory's sake: THEIRS
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 03:26 PM EDT
Do you actually know how many Republican voting seniors are dependent on Social Security and Medicare to simply survive AengusOq? Apparently not. You should encourage the GOP to run in 2012 by promising to end Social Security and Medicare. Maybe suggest drilling for oil and gas in Greenwich, Connecticut too.
Scrivner | Aug 06, 2011, 03:23 PM EDT
You know why tax receipts are at an all time low? Because these tax income, and Americans' income is at an all time low!
If the Repub's had not put up a fight, the credit rating would've still been down graded because the budget was set to automatically increase regardless of what revenue would come in.
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 02:58 PM EDT
Social Security is a failed program. It has been expanded far beyond the original intent. Can it be reformed to the point of being self-sufficient? I am reminded of the NJ Lottery. It was sold to the public as a funding source for education. In actuality the revenues generated became part of general revenues with no significant benefit to education. We need to find a balance between entitlements, saving the trees, and fiscal responsibility, tha will save the forest.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 02:55 PM EDT
The GOP's main agenda is to score political points at the expense of the American economy. Since 2009 they have irrationally refused to work with Obama on every issue, even policies they themselves previously supported. This week we discovered they would bring the economy on the brink of collapse in the hope of re-lection. We should not reward them for putting party first.
eiriamach | Aug 06, 2011, 02:15 PM EDT
We cannot slash Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and states' unemployment insurance without generating radical economic instability. Yet this is precisely the agenda of neo-con Republicans, who intend eventually to remove such programs altogether. These are not social welfare programs in the sense that oil depletion allowances, agri-business subsidies, and other taxpayers' support for corporations is corporate welfare. Medicare and Social Security, etc., are insurance programs that recipients pay into during their working lives. These programs need reform and streamlining, but they are-- let's face it-- essential to the economic stability of the nation. So when Republicans even talk about restructuring or cutting them significantly, they induce insecurity in the general population. Not only the other nations of the world, but also our own citizens must trust the government to make good on its obligations. Ratings agencies like S & P are signalling that they do not trust the feds to safeguard US citizens' investments in our own futures. Yes, GOP attempts to dismantle this paid-benefits 'entitlement' system and their no-tax/ no new revenues pledge signing are directly responsible for economic instability and lack of confidence in American economic growth. S & P got that much right.
PatriciaMarya | Aug 06, 2011, 01:25 PM EDT
Yet not one of you pointed out that John Paulson, a Hedge Fund "Traitor" who made $4.9 billion last year is not taxed percentage-wise on his labor but on his capital which is 15%, not the usual 25 to 35%?! As a legal secretary, I am taxed on my labor even though a bried I keyboarded would save an amazing amount of capital for a client. Why shouldn't he be taxed in the same method that we in the Labor market are? Why isn't he treated the same way as me? How many jobs did Paulson create? 14 in crew for his yacht; 8 in household help for his many homes; his personal trainer(s); his 3 24/7 drivers? You getting my drift? We lost $30million a day in uncollected flight taxes because the FAA was shut down never mind the amount of salaries and wages that the furloughed workers were not paid. There are members of Congress who owes thousands upon thousands of dollars in unpaid child support and credit card debts and these are the people that can be trusted to enact financial laws for U.S.? If the GOPs are the job creators, tell U.S. what country these jobs are located in because it certainly is not ours.
AngelPrecious | Aug 06, 2011, 01:23 PM EDT
ROFLLL, Cahir, what a bunch of baloney! @francisquinn, I guess you didn't read the latest, fanniemae has asked Congress for 6 BILLION. Yeah right, it is the Republicans...NOT
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT
Perhaps you missed the point of the last election, but we the people are dissatisfied with politics as usual. We may cheer the Mustangs and despise the Cougars, but we are neither 'fanatical' Donkeys or Elephants. Those of us who have begun the turning the tables are not interested in which party has the upper hand. We are interested in a strong economy, now and for our future generations. The Republican stance makes sense. It is the way we run our household budget. It is the way we plan for tomorrow. If a plebiscite had been held, there would have been no bailout. Government failed in its responsibility to regulate the financial institutions under its supervision. As for the ridiculous tax code that allows CEOs etc. to pay very little in taxes, it is a system rigged by cowardly politicians to manipulate what hey do not have the courage to legislate. Perhaps you will be better attuned to the mood of the people after the next election. Although with journalists like yourself, 'in your happiest intellection, a graceful error may correct the facts'.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT
S&P though very specifically blamed the GOP.
1- holding the debt ceiling hostage when it had been passed 70 times in the past created worry in America Government functioning properly and they specifically blamed Republicans
2- They called out republicans specifically on their refusal to raise revenue/ taxes to deal with the debt.
Nicomax | Aug 06, 2011, 12:38 PM EDT
S&P decided those sub-prime home loans issued like M&M's in 2004-2007 were just nifty stuff, and rated them AAA. They were doing the bidding of the investment bankers selling these poisoned bundles to any one and everyone, while getting insurance on them knowing they would fail. How the rating agencies stayed out of prison is a wonder.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT
I am sure there are those here who assume that I’m 100% Republican. Nothing could be further from the truth. I only know that, as a business owner in this volatile economic climate we have here, I am deeply concerned. I am financially conservative: I believe in budgets, and living within one’s means. That is necessary for any successful business in the world. If Mr. Obama and the Dems were so concerned about the economic state of this country, why does it continue to get worse? Sorry, you can’t blame the Republicans for that. In case you don’t understand our “system”, legislation is passed through both houses (House of Representatives AND the Senate), then signed into law by the President. From January 2008 until January 2011, both the Senate AND the House had Democratic majorities (the GOP was basically irrelevant) and anything they passed was immediately and gleefully signed into law by the president. For that period of time, we were basically a one-party government. Why weren’t these issues handled then, when anything could be done without the GOP’s ability to stop any of it? It was because the democrats were too busy passing bill after bill after bill increasing an already too large debt. I, for one, am glad to see a GOP majority in the House now, perhaps acting as “brakes” on this out-of-control path we’ve been on for the past 2 years. Debt percentage of our GDP rose 10% during the 8 Clinton years, it rose 12% during the 8 Bush years, and it has risen over 30% in the 2 Obama years. Do some research. Look it up. It’s fact.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 12:16 PM EDT
John Chambers, the head of the S & P Sovereign Rating Committee just stated that there are 5 criteria for the decision to downgrade a country’s credit rating. No where in his statement did he BLAME the GOP. Among the major factors, according to Mr. Chambers, are the fact that the US’s debt is such a large portion of the GDP (which he attributes to massive “stimulus” spending in the past two years that didn’t produce positive results), the deficit reduction plan last week that did not go “far enough” to begin reducing the debt, and the “political climate” in Washington (gridlock) which is attributable to BOTH political parties. Maybe the author of this article and others should read or listen to some “real” news before foaming at the mouth....
pounder | Aug 06, 2011, 11:30 AM EDT
Oh,and Obama is completely above all blame?
patrickesq | Aug 06, 2011, 11:23 AM EDT
Any fair-minded, objective citizen understands that our deficit problem requires additional revenue to avoid imposing harsh reduction of benefits to those who can least afford it. The Republican zeal to reduce spending on necessary social programs, without increasing revenue, is a formula for disaster. Most expert economists believe that drastic cuts in spending will jeopardize the fragile recovery that was slowing taking place from the economic melt down of 2008.
Restoring the modest tax rates that were in effect before the Bush cuts, on people who can easily afford it, is clearly the most rational thing to do.
But rationality and fairness seem to be lacking in the Republican agenda to reclaim the Presidency. As a result average Americans will suffer the consequences of fewer jobs, less income, higher charges for credit and aless secure future.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 10:55 AM EDT
Caramia you sound like a typical GOP shill: holding others to account for mistakes you excuse in yourself. Your claims about compromise are easily contradicted by Speaker Boehner who claimed he got "98% of what he wanted" in the deal. Which now includes a historic downgrading of Americas credit rating. Good going GOP.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 10:49 AM EDT
I apologize for my own "typos" in my previous comment. It should have read..... I believe, in response to the GOP proposed bill, THE DEMOCRATS were the ones who announced it was DOA before it ever reached the Senate... no discussion, no compromise.
And then they have the balls to scream that there is no "bipartisan" attitude on the part of the Republicans. They should ALL be kicked out of DC, Dems and Repubs alike, and we should just start over, more carefully vetting those who we send to washington to represent our best interests.
It would be easy to do: no matter who's running for "re-election" in 2012, just vote for the "other".
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 10:46 AM EDT
Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you? When will you stop drinking the crazy Tea and realize the GOP have been capsized by angry extremists like the posters below?
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 10:42 AM EDT
Once again, your "reporting" sent me into hysterical giggles! What planet are you really on? The facts are, the major credit-rating agencies, LONG before this crisis took over the news last week, outlined exactly what it would take to keep the US's AAA credit rating intact. The first bill introduced by the GOP (Speaker Boehner et al) MET these requirements. Your comment, "But Congressional Republicans now believe that anything that is requested by President Obama must be refused by them, regardless of the ultimate cost to the nation." HAD to have been a series of "typos". I believe, in response to the GOP proposed bill, were the ones who announced it was DOA before it ever reached the Senate... no discussion, no compromise. The resulting legislation that was passed incorporated the Dems' input. At that point, the GOP went along with it (much to the disappointment of their constituents), because time was running out on the debt ceiling issue. While the announcement about the credit rating is upsetting to me and many other Americans, it comes as no surprise. There was no way the democrats were going to agree to the terms set out by the credit-rating agencies (the cuts, the caps, etc.). So WHO is it that is so blinded by their own desires, regardless of the consequences for the nation? Please do your homework, while I enjoy my chuckle at your fiction...
rgray222 | Aug 06, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
This is one of the most biased pieces of news reporting that you have ever printed. When the democrats did not put forward (and they had both houses and the presidency) a budget in three years what did you expect would happen. When Obama spent a trillion dollars and has nothing to show for it, higher fuel price, higher food prices, higher unemployment whose fault do you think it is. Obama spent every spare dollar the country had and you blame the GOP! Amazing. Ask yourself, why do the democrats viciously oppose a balanced budget.
Obama got healthcare pushed through with $450 Billion in cuts to medicare and medicaid and he did not even put one dollar in the new bill! Think, really think about it for just one minute and then figure out why the credit rating is in the toilet!
francisquinn | Aug 06, 2011, 10:15 AM EDT
Your article sounds like it was written by Chris matthews as he felt the chill up his leg....
Dont you realize...we are BROKE....Of course Geo Bush plays a major part but so does Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who maintained that Fannie and Freddie were safe.....I notice you did not menton that in your liberal writting..
wjb1tex | Aug 06, 2011, 09:40 AM EDT
What a bunch of nonsense. Corporate tax receipts are a historic low because this administration has destroyed the economy. Raising taxes on companies will do nothing but further erode the job market and will cause further reduction in the tax receipts. S & P said they lowered the rate because the plan does not go far enough to erase the debt. They did not say because of no tax increase.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.hollabackgurl | Aug 11, 2011, 01:10 AM EDT
I'm going to blame Bush because Bush inherited a record surplus and turned it (via the biggest tax give aways to the rich in American history and two idiot wars) into the biggest deficit in American history. Thanks to his idiot presidency 64%, of Americans now don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
PhlutiePhan | Aug 09, 2011, 10:34 AM EDT
We are three years into the Oba Administration. How long are you going to blame Bush? Sure, there are waves from throwing a rock in the pond. However, there is a new rock that has been thrown. Criticize both.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:30 PM EDT
The problem of deficits could be solved very easily - tax the rich, something that Obama and his right wing shills like band want us to forget about. Tax rates for the rich were at their lowest from 1924 to 1929 when they were less than 25%, and again from 2000 to 2011, when they dropped to about 35%, not counting tax loop holes. Both of those rates of low taxation were triggers for depressions. The tax rate for the rich climbed to 79% under FDR and Truman (with a brief jump during the war and then were raised again under Eisenhower to 90%. They were steadily lowered until they again reached into the mid 20% range in 1988 which triggered with the Crash of 1988.
peterson | Aug 08, 2011, 08:34 PM EDT
No,,--- The wild spending of the trillions borrowed by obuma from the Chinese to finance his "stimulus" payments to questional recipients with no strings attached caused the debt. He cannot blame that on Bush !! The Democrats will have a real awakening in 2012 ! Hurrah for the Tea Party. Ireland could use one !!
seanomelbourne | Aug 08, 2011, 07:35 PM EDT
The teahadist are despised in Australia the results of their economic madness is stretching the globe.They should crawl back into their trailers and leave the world to those who care. A bunch of morons destroying a proud and respected U.S.A.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 04:31 PM EDT
Today was Teabaggergeddon. Thank you Tea-Baggers, my 401(k) thanks you as well. Thank you for being hell-bent on getting Obama out, even if they have to push us into double-digit unemployment, and screw the economy and our credit rating for the next 10 years.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 04:08 PM EDT
Our corporations are enjoying record profits and tax breaks and they are not creating a single new job. Trickle down economic theory is bull#$it.
JohnQCitizen | Aug 08, 2011, 01:21 PM EDT
The Entire World sees what The Grand Old Tea Party has done to the U.S. They are to blame for the downfall. They are bad for America and bad for the World, nothing more than terrorists. Vote Them out America.
Josephboland | Aug 08, 2011, 11:47 AM EDT
Balogna. You are spouting the liberal credo that spending our money cures all. Does that work in Ireland? No not here either.
chesapeake | Aug 08, 2011, 11:01 AM EDT
The road to ruined credit as more attributable to the largesse of the Obama regime than any other set of circumstances. The billions upon billiions of of dollars spent on government jobs and unions, taking over of General Motors then giving it to the unions... giving, giving and giving while taking away the incentives for private industry jobs. I will admit that the Republican budget was not well thought out... they should have demanded much more and stuck it out. The Dems already knew that the present administration had almost guaranteed that our credit was shot and Obama was at his weakest. Now, they have given him more life. The Dems have done what Jimmy abd Bill could not... virtually destroying our ability to right the ship peacefully. doiZBikk
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:24 AM EDT
"I will tell you ladies and gentlemen, I detest and despise everything the left stands for. How anybody can endorse and embrace an ideology that has killed a billion people in the last century is beyond me." - Tea Party Nation CEO Judson Phillips, speaking at a Republican event in Wisconsin. That's the GOP's idea of a politician these days.
hollabackgurl | Aug 08, 2011, 09:23 AM EDT
Verizon made $27 billion in profit in just the last quarter, but wants employees to give up some of their health and pension benefits. That's the new American economy the GOP wants to protect with tax cuts and corporate giveaways.
bonjouryall | Aug 08, 2011, 06:53 AM EDT
Harry Reid himself pointed out the Obama stimuls did not work. So maybe this will. The Tea Party has fairly pointed out that when revenues have been raised in the past, the money is not used to pay down the debt but is spent for 'needs' -usually several times over. My recollection also is that taxes will go up when the Bush tax cuts expire soon. On the other hand, the wealthy have gotten much richer while the middle class has dwindled due to unlimited free trade pushed by Bush/Clinton. And many people are hurting badly right now. While I do favor taxing the rich more, and ending loopholes, I say taxing imports from countries that do not have similar environmental standards is the most fair way to proceed, with the most immediate payoff for creating American jobs. Lastly, social security has always been underfunded on a personal standpoint - it relies upon more people paying in than the number paying out. It is only fair to require higher contributions since the national demographics have changed the old unsustainable ratio.
hollabackgurl | Aug 07, 2011, 07:48 PM EDT
Sorry Peggy P but speaker John Boehner loudly claimed that he 'got 98% of what he wanted in the deficit' debacle. So that's Boehner and the GOP's idea of leadership and that's exactly where to pin the blame for the credit downgrade. Just ask S&P, they are on record for having done so themselves.
seanomelbourne | Aug 07, 2011, 07:02 PM EDT
The party of no is in disarray run by the "credit down grade teaparty"
Peggy P | Aug 07, 2011, 03:21 PM EDT
Mr. O'Doherty who, names please, were these so called economic observers and people on Wall Street who concluded the US credit rating was sabotaged by the GOP? You sound like the usual news sources for the "National Enquirer". We all know that blanket refusal to compromise started with the Democratic House, Senate and White House in 2008 to 2010. Remember when they passed & voted on legislative issues behind closed doors which they never read or let members of the GOP read. I find it strange that you blame the Tea Party or maybe not. Was it not for them the Democratic commitment to lowering the dept would be zero. It is because trust that the people responsible for lowereing the dept will not do so is the reason they lowered our credit rating. God Bless America and help her until we can clean up the White House and Senate.
jamthecat | Aug 07, 2011, 12:06 PM EDT
The GOP took hostages and behaved like terrorists, making ludicrous demands that had no basis in reality. Obama caved, over and over, even as their demands increased to the point of the ridiculous. And now the US is being ruined as well as lectured by S&P, who have yet to be right about anything when it comes to rating government bonds. This would be comical if it didn't mean disaster to so many Americans. What's truly diseased is how the Tea Party demanded this nonsense, even though they will be hurt by it, as well. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
tempranillo | Aug 07, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
S&P are imperious whores, looking for a marketing advantage. Their assessments are tired shibboleths that no one trades on---probably the only group whose assessments warrant greater scorn are TV weathermen.Once again, S&P closes the door after the horse leaves the barn. The feckless bas***** are masters of that arcane art. With nauseating pomposity, S&P tells us, "In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging." As if they would have effected the downgrade in a robust economy. The downgrade to AA , Outlook Negative is both a cynical joke and serious matter. We're not AA either. While we all know we are in a financial mess, I wonder what unintended consequences will heighten uncertainty come Monday. I wonder how "the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging" is helped.
BrendaG | Aug 07, 2011, 09:19 AM EDT
Oh yes If you are trying to point fingers at our ecomony I suggest you get your own house in order first along with your Euro comrades. At least we are not bankrupt and begging for bailouts from other countries because we didnt control ourselves from acting like a kid in a candy store !!
BrendaG | Aug 07, 2011, 09:14 AM EDT
You have been drinking too much of the Obama Kool- aid. Obama has been his own worst enemy for his refusal to negoiate a real economic package. remember this man never has had a job nor employed workers-we dont think he really gets it.The "rich" as u put it already pay more than 50% of the taxes in the US. How about millions of illegals who drain the system and pay nothing.I work and pay my fair share-but do not want to pay for those who wont.
EphraimKibbey | Aug 07, 2011, 01:42 AM EDT
Part II - America has never defaulted on a debt and both countries and individuals are bending over backwards to loan us money at the lowest rates. It is the best deal around. We borrow at the lowest rate going, we spend it on stimulus, every dollar spent on stimulus returns a dollar and 61 cents to our GDP. ($1.61/$1.00)X100% = 161% return on our investment or 61% interest. We tax that increase and pay back the loan and the interest on it. I have money invested at 5% but I can borrow at 1%. Should I take money out of my investment to buy something (like a new bridge) or should I keep it invested and borrow what I need? Duh!!! This is really very simple math, people, and it is being corrupted to run Obama out of office at the expense of our country's economy and people's lives. Shame on the GREED! Shame on the inhumanity!
EphraimKibbey | Aug 07, 2011, 01:37 AM EDT
I can't believe, in 33 comments, that no one mentioned S&P's 2 TRILLION dollar math error in calculating our debt to spending ratio that made it look like our debt was climbing much faster than it, in fact, is. When the error was shown to them, they went ahead and lowered our rating anyway for spite saying that the "brinksmanship" of the recent crisis made them less confident that the Republicans would ever work with the Democrates to solve the financial problem. While we can all agree on that possibility, it is not something that the bond raters have historically used to rate a countries chance of default. The other 2 agencies kept us at AAA but with a negative outlook which sorta says the same thing without the actual downgrade. In general, lets remember that these are the agencies that rated the bundled morgages (what a concept - then the bundlers bet money that they would fail - that was criminal!) as AAA when in fact, they were a few good loans wrapped around a core of losers. As to America's actual solvency, where do you think most of the money lost by world wide markets the last two weeks went for safe keeping - into good old US Treasury Bonds (with what was left over going into gold.)
hollabackgurl | Aug 07, 2011, 12:35 AM EDT
The extremist Tea Party has minimal public support in the USA but they still managed to hold both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party hostage to their kamikaze economic theory. Now we're really going to pay for their extremism.
seanomelbourne | Aug 06, 2011, 10:26 PM EDT
People have short memories when it suits them McNamara.
McNamara31 | Aug 06, 2011, 08:50 PM EDT
AengusOg..."Closer attention, favorite color?" Da? Goldman Sachs chairman Henry Paulson was made Treasury Secretary by the Bush administration and soon after went on to dismantel the "New Deal" financial regulations that had been put in place to protect "us" from another crash of 1929 and subsequent depression.Those are the facts you can easily look them up. Under Paulson/Bush bank debt ratio's were allowed to increase from 12 to 1 up to 40 to 1,feeding the CDO frenzy then the crash of 2008.The mortgage companies could not have taken on the increased debt if the original safeguards had not been changed.
Skibberrean | Aug 06, 2011, 08:24 PM EDT
DITTO......MotherIrish....You have it completely correct!!
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 07:29 PM EDT
@hollabackgurl You are certainly correct when you identify payoffs and political corruption as a threat to Democracy. Unfortunately, political office begs corruption. Is it ignorance, naivete, or venality that has President Obama surround himself with so many economic advisors with dirty hands from Goldman Sachs? It is up to ourselves to pay closer attention to the quality of our representatives instead of voting for our favorite color.
McNamara31 | Aug 06, 2011, 07:20 PM EDT
IC posters, we better get "our" collective act together and realize our problems are bigger than the continual Dem vs Republican banter. The dollar was always considered worldwide as the “safe currency” to run to. We are losing that standard. It's time to return statesmen to Washington to do the real work, kick out the lobbyists, and tell the rednecks our problems are not answered with a simple "no". If our economy goes down we take Europe with us. Then whose left to take “our” place?
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 07:10 PM EDT
@Hollabackgurl- To recognize that SS is a failed program does not imply abandoning it. At this point in time, abandoning SS is not an option. Limiting the scope of entitlements attached to it certainly seems sensible. Benefits could be limited to those who contributed and their dependents. As for the entitlements many others receive from SS, let the politicians fund them directly through a separate and identifiable welfare program.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 07:07 PM EDT
No taxes on the wealthy! They need every cent to form corporations, buy politicians, and upend democracy - this costs money!
seanomelbourne | Aug 06, 2011, 07:02 PM EDT
Cahir is only quoting experts and he is correct.It's as plain as the nose on your right wing ignorant faces that the party of no set out to destroy Obama and may well have destroyed the U.S. economy in there quest. Even Niall Cavouto has lost patients with the teaparty and quoted that boehner privateley admits that to attain a modest decrease in the debt the top 1% should pay more.Obama put $4trillion dollars of cuts on the table and Boehner was gutless. As an outsider looking in I find it incredible that people like Doocy,Hannity,Varney and co. and the rest of The Fox pundits smirking and rubbing their collective paws in glee thinking it's Obamas swan song.Why should they care they are immune from the day to day trials of the middle class.The American people are better than that and the GOP is in for an election shock.The GOP will destroy itself and the looneys on the right will take over and then they will have a Greek moment.
Pittsburghkid | Aug 06, 2011, 04:40 PM EDT
nteresting obseveration, but wrong. Tax increases won't help anything. Britain cut spending and increased taxes, but it did not work. No wonder Ireland is one of the PIIGs of the EU with thinking like this. Ohh yes, how is that Diversity Lottory coming along. I heard the GOP congress past a law, which Obama will veto, if the Senate pass it. Good Luck with that.
MotherIrish | Aug 06, 2011, 04:34 PM EDT
Let's see... The Dems had time after time to deal with the debt limit and did not they just passed extensions. Same way with the FAA bill.. They had the power and sat with their thumbs up their back side and then added enormously to the debt by passing Obamacare before writing the bill. SS was NEVER intended to pay all of a retirees expenses. They were to SAVE - funny word isn't it -- and supplement that saving with SS. Medicare was never to pay for Viagra, etc. We MUST have a balanced budget amendment. If local, county and states and I must do that, then the US government needs to do the same, not just raise the debt limit. S & P will back down but we have to stop sending billions to other countries who are over spending and use those funds to pay our own debt down. Greece, Ireland, Portugal etc need to learn to live with in their INCOME too. It is not the republicans who fussed with this for YEARS, It was the DEMOCRATS --- get it right!!
mairdemalone | Aug 06, 2011, 03:30 PM EDT
America was sabotaged long ago, by Nixon, Kissinger, Greenspan and Bush Senior. When Nixon and Kissinger when to China, they made deals that would benefited the Rich -who don't have any loyalty to any country. I could be wrong... but didn't Greenspan change the way the Federal Bank did business, around that time? Didn't he insure Chinese investors would get rich making American goods, while at the same time, the steel mills were shut down, manufacturing jobs were sent to China and so on and so on... Nixon is dead. So I say: 'Charge George Bush Senior, Greenspan and Kissinger with High Treason!' And how come both Democrats and Republicans spent only one night agreeing to pay billions to the bankers on Wall Street? Something stinks to high heaven in Washington and it ain't the smell coming from the poor, unwashed millions of good Americans who can't find work! -these are the people who do not count. So I say: 'Charge Benanke, Pawson, Geithner Dodd, Boehner, Reed, Greenspan and Kissinger with High Treason.' What was the ordinary loyal American did to deserve such a pack or vanity driven, self-rightious wasters of time and money? Wasn't it the "ordinary" American who fought in every war. (And thanks to the avarice of the few, many of those loyal Americans had to join the military because there wasn't any work for them in their home states. They are the ones sent to the Front Line too. So I say: 'Enough, is enough!!!' Don't buy anything that is not made in America or Canada, and don't buy from box stores, buy from your local farmer, butcher, baker and on and on... Don't leave the rescue of America to the greedy people in Washington, because they are so vain, they'd want to jump on the band wagon for Glory's sake: THEIRS
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 03:26 PM EDT
Do you actually know how many Republican voting seniors are dependent on Social Security and Medicare to simply survive AengusOq? Apparently not. You should encourage the GOP to run in 2012 by promising to end Social Security and Medicare. Maybe suggest drilling for oil and gas in Greenwich, Connecticut too.
Scrivner | Aug 06, 2011, 03:23 PM EDT
You know why tax receipts are at an all time low? Because these tax income, and Americans' income is at an all time low! If the Repub's had not put up a fight, the credit rating would've still been down graded because the budget was set to automatically increase regardless of what revenue would come in.
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 02:58 PM EDT
Social Security is a failed program. It has been expanded far beyond the original intent. Can it be reformed to the point of being self-sufficient? I am reminded of the NJ Lottery. It was sold to the public as a funding source for education. In actuality the revenues generated became part of general revenues with no significant benefit to education. We need to find a balance between entitlements, saving the trees, and fiscal responsibility, tha will save the forest.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 02:55 PM EDT
The GOP's main agenda is to score political points at the expense of the American economy. Since 2009 they have irrationally refused to work with Obama on every issue, even policies they themselves previously supported. This week we discovered they would bring the economy on the brink of collapse in the hope of re-lection. We should not reward them for putting party first.
eiriamach | Aug 06, 2011, 02:15 PM EDT
We cannot slash Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and states' unemployment insurance without generating radical economic instability. Yet this is precisely the agenda of neo-con Republicans, who intend eventually to remove such programs altogether. These are not social welfare programs in the sense that oil depletion allowances, agri-business subsidies, and other taxpayers' support for corporations is corporate welfare. Medicare and Social Security, etc., are insurance programs that recipients pay into during their working lives. These programs need reform and streamlining, but they are-- let's face it-- essential to the economic stability of the nation. So when Republicans even talk about restructuring or cutting them significantly, they induce insecurity in the general population. Not only the other nations of the world, but also our own citizens must trust the government to make good on its obligations. Ratings agencies like S & P are signalling that they do not trust the feds to safeguard US citizens' investments in our own futures. Yes, GOP attempts to dismantle this paid-benefits 'entitlement' system and their no-tax/ no new revenues pledge signing are directly responsible for economic instability and lack of confidence in American economic growth. S & P got that much right.
PatriciaMarya | Aug 06, 2011, 01:25 PM EDT
Yet not one of you pointed out that John Paulson, a Hedge Fund "Traitor" who made $4.9 billion last year is not taxed percentage-wise on his labor but on his capital which is 15%, not the usual 25 to 35%?! As a legal secretary, I am taxed on my labor even though a bried I keyboarded would save an amazing amount of capital for a client. Why shouldn't he be taxed in the same method that we in the Labor market are? Why isn't he treated the same way as me? How many jobs did Paulson create? 14 in crew for his yacht; 8 in household help for his many homes; his personal trainer(s); his 3 24/7 drivers? You getting my drift? We lost $30million a day in uncollected flight taxes because the FAA was shut down never mind the amount of salaries and wages that the furloughed workers were not paid. There are members of Congress who owes thousands upon thousands of dollars in unpaid child support and credit card debts and these are the people that can be trusted to enact financial laws for U.S.? If the GOPs are the job creators, tell U.S. what country these jobs are located in because it certainly is not ours.
AngelPrecious | Aug 06, 2011, 01:23 PM EDT
ROFLLL, Cahir, what a bunch of baloney! @francisquinn, I guess you didn't read the latest, fanniemae has asked Congress for 6 BILLION. Yeah right, it is the Republicans...NOT
AengusOg | Aug 06, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT
Perhaps you missed the point of the last election, but we the people are dissatisfied with politics as usual. We may cheer the Mustangs and despise the Cougars, but we are neither 'fanatical' Donkeys or Elephants. Those of us who have begun the turning the tables are not interested in which party has the upper hand. We are interested in a strong economy, now and for our future generations. The Republican stance makes sense. It is the way we run our household budget. It is the way we plan for tomorrow. If a plebiscite had been held, there would have been no bailout. Government failed in its responsibility to regulate the financial institutions under its supervision. As for the ridiculous tax code that allows CEOs etc. to pay very little in taxes, it is a system rigged by cowardly politicians to manipulate what hey do not have the courage to legislate. Perhaps you will be better attuned to the mood of the people after the next election. Although with journalists like yourself, 'in your happiest intellection, a graceful error may correct the facts'.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 01:19 PM EDT
S&P though very specifically blamed the GOP. 1- holding the debt ceiling hostage when it had been passed 70 times in the past created worry in America Government functioning properly and they specifically blamed Republicans 2- They called out republicans specifically on their refusal to raise revenue/ taxes to deal with the debt.
Nicomax | Aug 06, 2011, 12:38 PM EDT
S&P decided those sub-prime home loans issued like M&M's in 2004-2007 were just nifty stuff, and rated them AAA. They were doing the bidding of the investment bankers selling these poisoned bundles to any one and everyone, while getting insurance on them knowing they would fail. How the rating agencies stayed out of prison is a wonder.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 12:35 PM EDT
I am sure there are those here who assume that I’m 100% Republican. Nothing could be further from the truth. I only know that, as a business owner in this volatile economic climate we have here, I am deeply concerned. I am financially conservative: I believe in budgets, and living within one’s means. That is necessary for any successful business in the world. If Mr. Obama and the Dems were so concerned about the economic state of this country, why does it continue to get worse? Sorry, you can’t blame the Republicans for that. In case you don’t understand our “system”, legislation is passed through both houses (House of Representatives AND the Senate), then signed into law by the President. From January 2008 until January 2011, both the Senate AND the House had Democratic majorities (the GOP was basically irrelevant) and anything they passed was immediately and gleefully signed into law by the president. For that period of time, we were basically a one-party government. Why weren’t these issues handled then, when anything could be done without the GOP’s ability to stop any of it? It was because the democrats were too busy passing bill after bill after bill increasing an already too large debt. I, for one, am glad to see a GOP majority in the House now, perhaps acting as “brakes” on this out-of-control path we’ve been on for the past 2 years. Debt percentage of our GDP rose 10% during the 8 Clinton years, it rose 12% during the 8 Bush years, and it has risen over 30% in the 2 Obama years. Do some research. Look it up. It’s fact.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 12:16 PM EDT
John Chambers, the head of the S & P Sovereign Rating Committee just stated that there are 5 criteria for the decision to downgrade a country’s credit rating. No where in his statement did he BLAME the GOP. Among the major factors, according to Mr. Chambers, are the fact that the US’s debt is such a large portion of the GDP (which he attributes to massive “stimulus” spending in the past two years that didn’t produce positive results), the deficit reduction plan last week that did not go “far enough” to begin reducing the debt, and the “political climate” in Washington (gridlock) which is attributable to BOTH political parties. Maybe the author of this article and others should read or listen to some “real” news before foaming at the mouth....
pounder | Aug 06, 2011, 11:30 AM EDT
Oh,and Obama is completely above all blame?
patrickesq | Aug 06, 2011, 11:23 AM EDT
Any fair-minded, objective citizen understands that our deficit problem requires additional revenue to avoid imposing harsh reduction of benefits to those who can least afford it. The Republican zeal to reduce spending on necessary social programs, without increasing revenue, is a formula for disaster. Most expert economists believe that drastic cuts in spending will jeopardize the fragile recovery that was slowing taking place from the economic melt down of 2008. Restoring the modest tax rates that were in effect before the Bush cuts, on people who can easily afford it, is clearly the most rational thing to do. But rationality and fairness seem to be lacking in the Republican agenda to reclaim the Presidency. As a result average Americans will suffer the consequences of fewer jobs, less income, higher charges for credit and aless secure future.
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 10:55 AM EDT
Caramia you sound like a typical GOP shill: holding others to account for mistakes you excuse in yourself. Your claims about compromise are easily contradicted by Speaker Boehner who claimed he got "98% of what he wanted" in the deal. Which now includes a historic downgrading of Americas credit rating. Good going GOP.
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 10:49 AM EDT
I apologize for my own "typos" in my previous comment. It should have read..... I believe, in response to the GOP proposed bill, THE DEMOCRATS were the ones who announced it was DOA before it ever reached the Senate... no discussion, no compromise. And then they have the balls to scream that there is no "bipartisan" attitude on the part of the Republicans. They should ALL be kicked out of DC, Dems and Repubs alike, and we should just start over, more carefully vetting those who we send to washington to represent our best interests. It would be easy to do: no matter who's running for "re-election" in 2012, just vote for the "other".
hollabackgurl | Aug 06, 2011, 10:46 AM EDT
Wall Street's plan is clear: America is to be a nation of Haves and Have Nothings. Is that OK for you? When will you stop drinking the crazy Tea and realize the GOP have been capsized by angry extremists like the posters below?
caramia | Aug 06, 2011, 10:42 AM EDT
Once again, your "reporting" sent me into hysterical giggles! What planet are you really on? The facts are, the major credit-rating agencies, LONG before this crisis took over the news last week, outlined exactly what it would take to keep the US's AAA credit rating intact. The first bill introduced by the GOP (Speaker Boehner et al) MET these requirements. Your comment, "But Congressional Republicans now believe that anything that is requested by President Obama must be refused by them, regardless of the ultimate cost to the nation." HAD to have been a series of "typos". I believe, in response to the GOP proposed bill, were the ones who announced it was DOA before it ever reached the Senate... no discussion, no compromise. The resulting legislation that was passed incorporated the Dems' input. At that point, the GOP went along with it (much to the disappointment of their constituents), because time was running out on the debt ceiling issue. While the announcement about the credit rating is upsetting to me and many other Americans, it comes as no surprise. There was no way the democrats were going to agree to the terms set out by the credit-rating agencies (the cuts, the caps, etc.). So WHO is it that is so blinded by their own desires, regardless of the consequences for the nation? Please do your homework, while I enjoy my chuckle at your fiction...
rgray222 | Aug 06, 2011, 10:23 AM EDT
This is one of the most biased pieces of news reporting that you have ever printed. When the democrats did not put forward (and they had both houses and the presidency) a budget in three years what did you expect would happen. When Obama spent a trillion dollars and has nothing to show for it, higher fuel price, higher food prices, higher unemployment whose fault do you think it is. Obama spent every spare dollar the country had and you blame the GOP! Amazing. Ask yourself, why do the democrats viciously oppose a balanced budget. Obama got healthcare pushed through with $450 Billion in cuts to medicare and medicaid and he did not even put one dollar in the new bill! Think, really think about it for just one minute and then figure out why the credit rating is in the toilet!
francisquinn | Aug 06, 2011, 10:15 AM EDT
Your article sounds like it was written by Chris matthews as he felt the chill up his leg.... Dont you realize...we are BROKE....Of course Geo Bush plays a major part but so does Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who maintained that Fannie and Freddie were safe.....I notice you did not menton that in your liberal writting..
wjb1tex | Aug 06, 2011, 09:40 AM EDT
What a bunch of nonsense. Corporate tax receipts are a historic low because this administration has destroyed the economy. Raising taxes on companies will do nothing but further erode the job market and will cause further reduction in the tax receipts. S & P said they lowered the rate because the plan does not go far enough to erase the debt. They did not say because of no tax increase.