Why should S.&P an unelected & unaccountable institution decide our economy's fate?/ Nation

[flamingdem]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/162605/downgrading-democracy

The decision of Standard & Poor’s to remove the United States from its list of risk-free borrowers—by shifting the country’s rating from AAA to AA-plus—was a predictable enough play out of the absurd debt-ceiling debate. The job-killing agreement reached by the Obama administration and Republican Congressional leaders reads as if was written with the goal of stalling out whatever fragile recovery might have been taking place, and that has effectively been recognized by both the markets and the S&P report, which explicitly refused to endorse the GOP strategy of addressing debt and deficit challenges merely with cuts.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, noted as much when he said: “The action by S&P reaffirms the need for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines spending cuts with revenue-raising measures like closing taxpayer-funded giveaways to billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners.”

California Congressman George Miller Jr., the ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, was even more pointed—and even more scathing—in his assessment. “ downgrade should be a wakeup call to Republicans in Congress who have manufactured this political crisis in order to push their reckless ideological demands, and the media that have largely bought into their dangerous rhetoric.”

Reid’s point is well taken, and Miller’s is even more well taken. But both men give S&P too much credit as an honest—let alone legitimate—arbiter when it comes to fiscal matters.
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[Vanje]

1. In a similar vein, Why is Grover Norquist, the boss of anyone?

Why?

[flamingdem]

2. Ha! That's a good connection, what right does he have to make our country lose trillions? nt

[Vanje]

4. I don't think anyone elected him

but a bunch of GOP Congressmen apparently pledged their allegiance to Grover Norquist.

[flamingdem]

5. Too bad S&P is not about calling out Grover and the teaparty for real

In fact the owner is a mega-Romney supporter, that explains a lot ..

[msongs]

8. umm that's the president's job. oh wait, this president isnt up to it nt

[flamingdem]

9. nanananananana nt

[rdking647]

3. s&p is a bunch of fools

sub prime mortgages,bear stearns,lehman,enron....

how are they even in business anymore...

[flamingdem]

6. CNN etc kiss up to them as gods, so then foreign countries believe they count

and trash their own markets, just great!

[unkachuck]

7. S&P picks governmental winners and losers....

....maybe our government should start choosing corporate winners and losers with our money for our benefit....

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. +1000

[unblock]

10. they don't. they only state their opinion. the question is, what fool would listen to them here?

when s&p downgrades the typical company, it means something because they conduct on-site due diligence and learn things about the company that not everyone knows.

what s&p downgrades u.s. treasuries, they know NOTHING that the markets don't already know. their opinion is ONLY an opinion, not news.

so why should anyone listen to them in this matter.



and this doesn't even get into their credibility as to their normal ratings process.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. They can say what they wish...they are only credible if we choose to listen

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I am sorry, but when the Nation gets in front of

these agencies doing this to insert nation here, I will start paying more attention to the faux outrage.

[Booster]

13. I've got skimpy details and no link, but as I understand it,

Standard & Poor is either owned by or run by McGraw Hill, and Harold McGraw III worked for a lot of Republicans, namely the 1st and 2nd Bushes. Considering they made like a 2 trillion dollar mistake in their calculations, the hairs on the back of my neck are saying this was deliberate and wrong. Their credibility should certainly be in question.

[Booster]

18. Finally found a link.

http://www.nndb.com/people​/037/000124662/

[David Gill]

14. I think S&P, Moody's AND Fitch all chimed in during the debt ceiling debate

They were saying which potential compromises WOULD or WOULD NOT lead to a downgrade.

They can't be allowed to become the fourth branch of government, with a veto power over all spending. They're looking to get retribution for Obama allowing new rules that lets people sue the rating agencies for bad advice. Heaven forbid, after they contributed to the worst financial disaster in 80 years, we hold the ratings agencies accountable!

[flamingdem]

15. I agree, they want to get rid of any Obama administration regulation, pronto nt

[Kennah]

16. For the same reasons we let the Kochs and the Feds decide our fate