[livius]

In its announcement Friday night, S.& P. cited the political gridlock in Washington during the debt limit debate as a main reason for its decision. “The gulf between the political parties,” S.& P. said, had reduced its confidence in the government’s ability to manage its finances.

Nobody on the thread seems to be reading the article. The implication is not that the downgrade was caused by the actual situation or even the future projections, but because they believe the US has reached a political impasse.

This, of course, will be used to blame conservatives for the whole thing. After all, "compromise" always means that conservatives have to give up their ideas and accept whatever the left wants.

[niteowl77]

The implication is not that the downgrade was caused by the actual situation or even the future projections, but because they believe the US has reached a political impasse.

That is what I took as the gist of the article, and it makes me even less enamored of S&P than before (not an easy feat).

It appears to me that most of the ratings agencies have - for quite some time - been so compromised and/or inept that they were unwilling (or unable) to sound an alarm on any number of financial problems. Currently, their chief usefulness appears to consist of laying smokescreens to protect the political ruling class (who are obligated to lob a few brickbats in S&P's direction to maintain the illusion that the whole damnable lot are not in collusion).

Mr. niteowl77