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Christina Romer, the former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Friday offered a rather strong opinion concerning the announcement by Standard & Poor's that the credit rating agency downgraded America's debt to AA+. Appearing on HBO's "Real Time," Romer said we're "pretty darn f--ked" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no commentary needed): ---- BILL MAHER, HOST: So, excuse my language, but we used to do a segment on this show called “How F—ked Are We?” (VIDEO CLIP) MAHER: I didn’t expect that there. This, just before we went on the air they said our rating got downgraded....

(CBS/AP) Following the news Friday of Standard and Poor's downgrade on the U.S. debt, several politicians from both sides of the aisle offered their reactions. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement: "This makes the work of the joint committee all the more important, and shows why leaders should appoint members who will approach the committee's work with an open mind -- instead of hardliners who have already ruled out the balanced approach that the markets and rating agencies like S&P are demanding." Reid was referring to the special bipartisan congressional committee -- made up of six Democrats...

S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus. The credit agency said late Friday that it was making the move because the deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough to stabilize the country's debt situation. U.S. Treasuries, once undisputedly seen as the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France or Canada. The outlook on the new U.S. credit rating is negative, S&P said in a statement, a sign that another downgrade is possible in the next...

Standard & Poor’s took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government’s “AAA” sovereign credit rating Friday in a move that could send shock waves through global. The following is a press release from Standard & Poor’s: – We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating. – We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative. – The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in...

The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term US credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about the government's budget deficits and rising debt burden. The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the US government, companies and consumers. "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics,"...

Two government officials tell ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the rating of US debt from its current AAA value. Official reasons given, one official says, will be the political confusion surrounding the process of raising the debt ceiling, and lack of confidence that the political system will be able to agree to more deficit reduction. A source says Republicans saying that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal will be part of the reason cited. The official was unsure if...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday, in a dramatic reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about growing budget deficits. U.S. Treasuries, once undisputedly seen as the safest investment in the world, are now rated lower than bonds issued by countries such as the UK, Germany, France or Canada

DALLAS -- While the hours count down to a final early morning board meeting of AMR corp, parent company of American Airlines, industry sources briefed on Airbus's North America strategy say the sales play by the European airframer is the opening salvo of the coming fleet replacement battles with US airlines that may eventually push Airbus production to record rates as high 60 A320 family aircraft per month after 2016 to meet the replacement demand. The announcement, now expected in Wednesday's early morning hours, is to split some portion of a 300 to 400 aircraft order between rivals Boeing and...

<p>The totalitarian urge is ubiquitous in human history, though in the United States this has been more expressed as Nanny State, less Bolshevik Revolution. Familiar examples include dictating our food choices, demonizing smokers and, most forcefully, micro-managing personal energy consumption. These policies all begin with seductive claims that government intrusion will benefit everybody and cooperation will be largely voluntary; but as benign admonitions fall short, pressures via fines and taxes, even criminal sanctions grow more draconian.</p>

Click here or on the image below to read Mr. Coates’ testimony:

DILLON — Dillon County Council Chairman Macio Williamson must appear before a judge after he ordered the county administrator to instruct another official to hire a black person to fill a vacant county position. Williamson has served on Dillon County Council representing District 1 for nearly 29 years and serves as the council’s chairman. The letter was written by Dillon County Administrator David Mobley on Williamson’s behalf Aug. 13. The letter was sent to Dillon County Chief Magistrate Mackie Hayes on a Dillon County Council letterhead and was signed by Mobley. It was sent in response to an employee of...

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

OK, I understand that one always need to tread carefully when posting a "vanity" at Free Republic, even in the General/Chat forum, especially as a "newbie." Like many, I've lurked on and off for about 5 or 6 years before getting "motivated" enough to actually join a few months ago (a bit more on that below). So, I am treading carefully. I don't have an article to post as reference or as a subject since this thread is of a very personal nature. However, at this point in time, I can't think of a better forum in which to start...

An American Airlines flight with 145 people on board made an emergency landing Tuesday in Iceland after five crew members became ill following reports of chemical fumes in the cabin. American Airlines Flight 49 traveling from Paris to Dallas-Ft. Worth landed safely just after 1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT). The source of the fumes was being investigated, Keflavik Airport spokesman Fridthor Eydal said.

Glenn Beck used to be a social liberal before he discovered Alcoholics Anonymous and then consequently sobered up. This admission—coming straight from the man's lips on his Friday TV show on FNC during a special entitled "Who Are You?"—may not be a surprise to some who know Beck's backstory, but it certainly reinforces the conventional wisdom that liberalism breeds weakness and is oftentimes an impediment to personal self-improvement. His declaration came in the context of "knowing yourself" politically and ideologically, the theme of Friday's Glenn Beck show special on FNC. Stating that his recovery from alcoholism came only after he...

Someone please tell me why this is.... Every job application out there askes me if I'm Hispanic or Latino! Why not Black? ...or non-White?

Forty passengers were reported injured when an American Airlines plane crashed and broke in two after landing at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston shortly after 10:00 last night. "The injured passengers have been taken to the Kingston Public Hospital," Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the Observer. "There are no reports of fatalities." Vaz, Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry and National Security Minister Dwight Nelson were quick on the scene and engaged in a head count from the passenger manifest to determine if anyone was missing. An injured American Airlines flight 331 passenger is being pushed in a...

Research has shown that there are different degrees of drinking disorders, and many people can change habits on their own. Seventy years ago, Bill Wilson -- the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous -- declared his powerlessness over alcohol in a book by the same name. The failed businessman contended that, as an alcoholic, he had to "hit bottom" before changing his life and that sobriety could only be achieved through complete abstention. For generations, Americans took these tenets to be true for everyone. Top addiction experts are no longer sure. They now say that many drinkers can evaluate their habits and...

David Hasselhoff has once again been hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning. The "America's Got Talent" judge recently wrapped taping a season of the hit reality series, and allegedly began boozing on vodka, according to RadarOnline.com.

I would greatly appreciate a larger or better version of this: The original was done by CNN. I had a couple stored on my hard drive, but they were lost during a computer crash last year... Thanks!