S&P downgrades US

Credit-rating agency, Standard & Poor, has officially downgraded the United State's credit rating from AAA to AA+. Other raters have not done so, so it's not yet clear how much effect this will have. The immediate risk will be further free-fall in the stock market, but that will probably be temporary.

Longer range problems could mean higher interest rates for government borrowing, which gets passed along to the consumer in higher interest rates and further depressing the economy and the jobs situation.

Here's how a spokesman for S&P explained their decision, which came several days after Congress had finally voted to raise the debt ceiling. Taken from HuffingtonPost's William Alden's article:

S&P laid blame for its decision to assign the AA+ rating directly on the political process in Washington. Even though lawmakers reached a decision on Aug. 2 to raise the government's debt ceiling and avoid a potentially disastrous default, the deficit-reduction package that accompanied the deal won't sufficiently improve the government's fiscal health in the coming years, S&P said in a release Friday. A factor in that projection, S&P said, is that Republicans seem unwilling to allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire.

"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," S&P said.

The ratings agency said political dysfunction provoked the downgrade, noting that Congress seems to lack the ability to aid the weakening economy. And now, as S&P acknowledged, the downgrade might introduce a new source of strain.

"The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed," the company said. "The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy."

OK, Democrats. They're writing the script for your campaign message. The American people already blame Repubs more than Dems. Go with it. Keep making that point. They started it with Bush's tax cuts, two wars, and Rx drugs for seniors -- all without paying for any of it. Repubs are the ones who turned default into an extortion tactic, and they are refusing to cooperate in fixing it.

Make sure the American people hear this and understand it -- and you'll win in a landslide.

Ralph