Should Congress look at S&P for the downgrade we got, or at themselves? What do you think of this article?

we shouldnt worry what s&p says they aren't even worthy of a response

they said home mortgages in USA were AAA+ when the housing bubble was going on an exploded

that isnt unreliable that company is useless to the public an straight up lies to everyone

S&P is right to lower the credit rating. Why would they feel safe investing in a country to who has consistantly increased debt without lowering it? Why would they be ok with a country who has decades of overspending in the books? The GOP definately is corrupted. The Republicans and the Teaparty members (who said they didn't care if the country defaults) need only to look to themselves. They took the advantage of having a Republican majority in the house to hold America hostage to get what they want. Which by the way isn't anywhere near what is best for the nation.

www.youtube.com/agalopeunitron

S&P's action was wrong but Congress has indeed become dysfunctional. The political system is a mess and S&P clearly went out of its way to point that out. Congress has to shape up. That means that the Tea Party types have to start acting like adults and start representing the interests of the American people.

S&P, however, really has some nerve after the high ratings that they gave worthless mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 crash. They can't make up for their previous bad deeds by now attacking the US credit rating. They are only making matters worse.

The S&P said pretty clearly that it was the inability of the Republican in Congress to even consider doing anything to increase tax revenue.

So guess what.... If you carry a lot of debt on a credit card and aren't paying it down, your credit rating goes down. Surprise, surprise, looks like the same thing just happened to America. Thanks Repubs.

@Bryan 2 - Why thank you for taking my factual statement as truth, after calling me a liar apparently due to your own ignorance of what the S&P sited as reasons. How nice of you. Further, thank you for including irrelevant points, which include statements from S&P that essentially say that they aren't taking positions on what cuts should or shouldn't happen. A point, which is irrelevant.

Further, since you are now willing to "take my factual statements at face value," let's consider for a moment that the debt ceiling was being "held hostage" by Republicans (Mcconnell's words, not mine). Forcing the action which resulted in Republicans getting 98% of what they wanted (Boehners words not mine). So you are saying now, that it is also Dem's fault, because they should have been pushing harder to increase revenue regardless of the hostage taking? I actually agree, however, I think it's pretty pathetic that your idea of how it's now "both party's fault," simply because the Dem's were unable to stop your side from the harm they wanted to inflict on our economy. Maybe you should look in the mirror or take a look at the facts of the matter first, before calling others dishonest.

Typical liberal. Disregard the root cause and focus on politics. That is why we are in financial trouble. "Head In Sand" policy will just make it worse in the long run. It is time to fix it. Obama is asking to spend every penny we have coming in, and then BORROWING AND SPENDING OVER 120 BILLION DOLLARS A MONTH MORE! All this goes on the taxpayer's credit card with interest!

"Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now

assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012,

remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority

of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise

revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."

http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer...

Here's another:

"More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness,

stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political

institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic

challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a

negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011."

Why didn't they fear for the effectiveness and stability of our policy making back in 2010?

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

The downgrade was not political, but the calls to investigate sure are. What the Democrats are trying to do now is scare Moody's. This is a typical this will happen to you if you try to downgrade us tactic.

@S O They did not say that it was Republicans. They did cite political concerns in relation to reducing spending and increasing revenues, but no party was singled out. I do not understand why Democrats like yourself cannot be honest on easily verifiable information. If you had any integrity you would hang your head in shame.

@Tribecca_Belle even when trying to take a somewhat centrist position you cannot help but be a partisan. You were on the right track with the idea that Congress is the problem, but you couldn't stop there now could you? You had to go that extra step to make it all the fault of the Republicans and the Tea Party. You are a shameless hack.

@SO quoted and sourced from the actual statement released by S&P regarding the downgrade.

"Standard & Poor’s takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might conclude is appropriate for putting the U.S.’s finances on a sustainable footing."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis...

However, let's take your statement at face value and examine the last part "a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act." ie both parties are at fault. Further we could go back to the Cut, Cap and Balance plan passed in the House which both S&P and Moodys said would meet their requirements and was squashed by Senate Democrats without debate.

Why?

Congress knew what to do weeks in advance.

What part of "cut $4 trillion" do you think democrats just didn't get?