Quote from S&P:
"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 [emphasis added], a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."
The debt limit deal was to include revenue increases AND spending cuts, as much as 4 trillion, in Obama's BIG DEAL the GOP balked at...So, you tell me, who is to blame.... But let the Obama bashing begin...fuckers....
"Unfortunately," Boehner added, "decades of reckless spending cannot be reversed immediately, especially when the Democrats who run Washington remain unwilling to make the tough choices required to put America on solid ground."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, echoed Obama's call for a "balanced" debt reduction plan, including more tax revenues from wealthy Americans -- a step blocked by Republicans during the recent debate over raising the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
"America's creditworthiness just became the latest casualty in President Obama's failed record of leadership on the economy," said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. "Standard & Poor's rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country's decline under President Obama."
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a Tea Party darling, called on Obama to fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and quickly submit a plan to balance the budget, not just reduce deficits.
“This president has destroyed the credit rating of the United States
through his failed economic policies and his inability to control
government spending by raising the debt ceiling,” she said. “President
Obama is destroying the foundations of the U.S. economy one beam at a
time.”
HEY Tea Party moron..The debt ceiling was raised because of Bush debt... you are running for POTUS so better get your facts straight!!!
The vultures are out in true form, feasting on Obama's bones. But it is the GOP who will be blamed, it is their out of control spending and utter nonsense from the wingnuts and Norquist signing a fuckin pledge never to raise taxes!! INSANITY!!
I will fault the Democrats and President Obama for ONE thing, and that is the Bush tax cut extension... I hope this is a wake up call for them and there is absolutely NO chance in hell those cuts will be extended again, or god forbid made permanent like the GOP wants!!!
13 comments:
We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process.
This is the thesis statement of the PDF published by Standard and Poor explaining why they downgraded the U.S. credit rating. Everyone who has some other idea is accusing Standard and Poor of lying about their rationale, an accusation that bears the burden of proof or is foolish.
Standard and Poor was not saying that rampant spending was the cause. They said overspending without the support of revenue combined with a willingness to default was the cause. They said we could cut spending to near 4 trillion dollars, or combine cuts with increased revenue, or, they implied, simply not put defaulting on the table as an option.
Standard and Poor's John Chambers (head of ratings division) told FOX that we came "within a day of having cash flow problems," something he considers unacceptable for a AAA rated nation.
What this all means is that if the Tea Party had cooperated with Obama, the credit rating would not have been lowered. If Obama had cooperated with the Tea Party, the credit rating would not have been lowered.
Additional spending cuts would have done the trick. Additional revenues added would have also done the trick. Taking us to the brink of default did not do the trick and made Standard and Poor's decision an obvious one.
I agree with Standard and Poor’s decision. We are not legitimately a AAA credit-worthy nation.
Sue, this nation does have a spending problem. We also have a tax code that is senseless that adds to the problem. We also have have by far too many loopholes in the tax code. We have by far too many subsidies. We have duplicative spending in government and departments that could be dismantled.
Getting spending under control makes sense for the nation, just like keeping spending under control makes sense for the individual.
Raising taxes should be the very last resort. Raising taxes makes it way to easy for the government to continue it's wasteful ways.
This all could have been avoided with a clean debt ceiling bill...which is what the Democrats wanted. Now, the republicans have effectively raised taxes on everyone.
So much for their fucking pledge!
Sue, we need to keep this in front of the public. We need to remind them that the GOP caused America's credit rating to be downgraded for the first time in America's history.
The GOP degraded America in front of the world.
When the truth is a requirement to win elections, republicans like Michelle Bachman will tell it. Till then they obey Reagan who never let the truth stand in the way of a good lie.
I Haven't been to Bachman's site yet Sue but I hear she moderates comments also. :)
Like the post says...REPUBLICANS ARE TO BLAME. It's all very simple to understand. What I am reading from comments across the country, the people are not stupid, they are paying attention, and they are blaming the Republiscums.
What the thugs did in hopes of destroying Obama has backfired. The teabagger freshmen got their orders from the top, their puppet masters, to hold out for an Obama cave and it did not work!
Truth, I'm sorry but I will do all I need to until lisa and her ilk go somewhere else. That hasn't happened yet!
As near as I can tell neither party tells the truth as a general rule.
Perhaps TAO is right we need a third party. But as sure as dark follows light eventually a third party would be corrupted also.
It happened to the repubs and dems after all.
Moveon.org says, "This tea party downgrade is a shameful blow to our nation's honor and risks throwing us right back into recession. Worst of all? It was completely avoidable".
By all means follow the Randian cult ideology. AS RN tells us, that would be the answer to all our problems; and of course not become corrupted.
Hi Sue, it's me, Virgil. now I'm just plain ol Justin:). Come check out my new blog http://blueswayedshow.blogspot.com/! Let me know what you think.:)
This episode of Tea Party brinkmanship will no doubt give the Wall Street and other money men reason to shift their support away from those radicals. Even corporatists want a functioning trickle up economy.
Dave,
Another possibility is this:
Though Standard and Poor basically said that without this fight over whether to raise the debt ceiling or default on our loan resulted in a downgrade, conservatives will not admit this. Confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance will unite to make them more certain of their position than ever and they will now be more driven than ever to remove Obama, the man they see as the problem.
They did not thinking with reason and logic, but emotion. I am not sure this hit to their wallet will change that. I think it may make them more emotional.
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