Free Republic

The decision by credit agency Standard and Poor’s to downgrade America’s AAA credit rating for the first time in 70 years is a massive blow to the credibility of the Obama administration, and a damning indictment of its handling of the economy. No doubt the White House will pathetically try to blame the Bush Administration, Republicans in Congress, and of course its favourite target, the Tea Party, for the move by S&P. But without a shadow of a doubt, responsibility for the country’s financial mess and staggering levels of debt lie with the current US president and his administration. They...

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 our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges...

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....

Is it silly that I feel so sad over S&P’s downgrade of the US credit rating? Like a lifelong friend who has fallen on hard times, I feel profoundly sad for my country. I literally almost want to cry. I don’t even have the heart to place the blame tonight, but I’m sure it will be back tomorrow. My husband and I have discussed what we will do in a “worst case scenario” of rising interest rates and a falling economy, and I firmly believe that the two of us will be just fine. But it isn’t just about us,...

When NBC News and Cenk Uygur "mutually agreed" to part ways last week, Uygur took to his internet news program to explain his departure. He boasted that his YouTube show had "up to a million views per day." This suggests that the world was hungry for Uygur's special brand of progressive political commentary. We here at Breitbart.tv have taken a look inside the numbers and the fact is that political commentary is not what online viewers of "The Young Turks" keep clicking for. In fact, they aren’t looking for "news" either. The "up to a million views per day" are...

Question: How many U.S. banks and insurance companies do you think will remain rated AAA if the U.S. government gets downgraded? That is not a rhetorical question. The direct consequences of a downgrade of Uncle Sam’s credit on U.S. public finances would be pretty bad. But, as with natural disasters, the aftershocks of this man-made catastrophe might prove more devastating than the main event. In this case, imagine a tsunami of rolling corporate downgrades following the earthquake of a Treasury downgrade, a run on the banks, a discredited FDIC, frozen money-market funds, and a plunging dollar. It’s not Beijing that’s...

Another major bond rating firm on Monday reiterated its threat to downgrade the U.S. government to a B-plus rating if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by August 2 and the government defaults on its debts. The warning from Fitch Ratings comes after Moody’s and S&P warned last week that they would lower the U.S. rating from the top mark of AAA if the country is unable to repay its debts next month. Fitch said Monday that it will place the U.S. rating in what it calls “ratings watch negative,” a status that can lead to downgrading in three-to-six months. The...

If The U.S. Government Loses Its AAA Rating It Could Potentially Unleash Financial Hell Across The United StatesJuly 15, 2011 For decades, the U.S. government has had a AAA rating. On the scales used by the big three credit rating agencies, that is the highest credit rating that a government can get. Moody's scale actually uses lettering that is a little different from the other two big agencies ("Aaa" instead of "AAA"), but you get the point. Right now, the U.S. government is closer than ever to losing its AAA rating. The threat of a rating downgrade is going to...

As you may have heard once or twice before, it’s a marathon, not a sprint (unless, of course, you’re talking about a sprint, then it’s a sprint, not a marathon). But we digress. Mark Rosenthal, CEO of Current TV, uses the sports metaphor to express his lack of concern over the second-week ratings drop for Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. The show saw its ratings shrink by nearly a third during the week of June 27, averaging 93,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic.

How many times have you judged a movie by its cover and its rating? As the summer gets underway parents across the country are fielding multiple requests from their kids to rent movies and/or head to the theatre to see the latest release. Many fine parents rely only on the Hollywood-drafted descriptions and Hollywood-created ratings system to determine which movies their sons and daughters can watch. But relying on Hollywood is a big mistake. The truth is, Hollywood peppers –and often fills - movies they claim are appropriate for children with sex and violence.Research verifies what savvy parents know by...

Most voters believe the popularity boost President Obama has received following the killing of Osama bin Laden will disappear quickly, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill. Almost three in five likely voters think the “bin Laden bounce” will vanish within three months, the poll indicates. Only one in four believes that Obama will still be benefitting in six months’ time. Obama is currently enjoying a major spike in his approval ratings: A New York Times/CBS poll last week showed an 11-point jump in his approval rating compared to two weeks before. Gallup’s daily tracking poll showed Obama’s...

Even at MSNBC, which gets crushed of course by Fox News in every prime-time slot, Cenk Uygur manages to come in dead last in ratings among his liberal peers. So when Cenk claims that he covers Donald Trump not because he wants to--suggesting he'd rather be reporting on Pawlenty/Romney's latest doings--the baloney-meter starts screaming. View video here.

Very quietly, in late March, CBS gave away the greatest secret in television. As AdWeek reported, CBS Corp. Chief Research Officer David Poltrack announced that “age and sex don’t matter when it comes to TV ad effectiveness.” Alone, this doesn’t sound like anything groundbreaking. After all, most of us figure that ads generally appeal to all of us on an equal basis. But in truth, the admission is absolutely stunning. As I explain in my upcoming book, Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV (Broadside Books, May 31), for over forty years, the...

New poll numbers indicate that Sarah Palin is now as unpopular as Nancy Pelosi.

Cash-strapped US states and cities face the prospect of downgrades after Fitch Ratings changed the way it analyses their burgeoning pension bills. In a report published on Thursday, Fitch warns the new approach could lead to “limited negative rating action”, particularly for local governments with big wage bills. The changes to the way it assesses pension liabilities come amid growing concern over the scale of municipal debt problems and the effect on state and city finances of generous, unfunded public sector pension schemes that will run for many years. Sharp falls in equities and other risky assets during the financial...

MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur sat down with news magazine AlterNet to talk about MSNBC, Fox News, and his web show “The Young Turks.” Uygur described the difference between the web and MSNBC — where he was named a contributor and substitute anchor in October 2010. He told the magazine that “television gives you an opportunity to really put together a great product and visually make your case to the audience better.”

Two leading credit rating agencies on Thursday cautioned the U.S. on its credit rating, expressing concern over a deteriorating fiscal situation that they say needs correction. Moody's Investors Service said in a report Thursday that the U.S. will need to reverse an upward trajectory in the debt ratios to support its triple-A rating. "We have become increasingly clear about the fact that if there are not offsetting measures to reverse the deterioration in negative fundamentals in the U.S., the likelihood of a negative outlook over the next two years will increase," said Sarah Carlson, senior analyst at Moody's. Standard &...

2010 was not a good year for CNN. The network had its worst primetime performance in both total viewers and adults 25-54 since at least 1996, and tied (with 1999) for its lowest performance ever in adults 25-54 in total day. In primetime, the network was down an alarming 34% in both total viewers and the demo compared to 2009. * Primetime: 591,000 total viewers/ 173,000 A25-54 * Total Day: 433,000 total viewers/ 133,000 A25-54 CNN’s highest rated program was “Larry King Live,” which placed 18th overall among cable news programs, averaging 672,000 total viewers and 176,000 A25-54. As has...

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary Moody’s had taken comfort in their role of the short of the euro play. They took protection in Federal court from suits over the accuracy of ratings based on free speech. Legally that is looking shaky but they still have Federal Court to take comfort in. The second they downgrade US credit, they have signed their litigation death warrant. They know this and might be playing a game of chicken.

Is CNN becoming irrelevant? According to TVByTheNumbers.com, the self-proclaimed most trusted name in news's prime time ratings this year are the lowest since at least 1997: CNN’s woes worsened this year. Despite the somewhat bogus total reach-touting, the network hit primetime ratings lows (or at least going back to 1997, which is all we could dig up data for) for total viewers and viewers 25-54. A look at Tuesday's prime time numbers should give you an idea of just how terribly this cable network is doing. Fox New's "O'Reilly Factor" now frequently gets more viewers than CNN's extended prime...