Posted on 04/20/2011 7:55:13 AM PDT by Qbert
The Obama administration privately urged Standard & Poor’s in recent weeks not to lower its outlook on the United States — a suggestion the ratings agency ignored Monday, two people familiar with the matter said.
Treasury Department officials had been discussing with S&P whether the ratings agency should change its outlook on the United States to “negative” from “stable,” an indication that the country could lose its crucial AAA rating in coming years over its soaring debt levels.
Treasury officials told S&P analysts that they were underestimating the ability of politicians in Washington to fashion a compromise to curb deficits, a Treasury official said. They argued a change in ratings was not needed at this time because the debt was manageable and the administration had a viable plan in the works, the official said.
[Snip]
It is not uncommon for companies and governments to push back when they don’t agree with a decision made by a credit ratings agency. Sometimes, companies that issue debt — which also pay for the ratings — will shop around for the best rating.
But the U.S. government is an unusual case — it doesn’t solicit ratings. S&P and the other major credit rating agencies offer their judgments notwithstanding.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Words out of my mouth, about transparency.
On the one hand, publicly, the administration has said the S and P issue is not a major issue. But privately they are trying to manipulate the judgements made by S & P.
Interesting................
Panic. He knows what is coming.
Totalitarians always need an enemy.
Nope, I don’t think he has a clue what is coming. I don’t know if any of us do.
Shocked, I tells ya.
Nope, I don’t think he has a clue what is coming. I don’t know if any of us do.
I have been hearing this for 18 months now and it hasn’t happened yet. Dow up almost 200 today. either they are really good at manipulating the markets or the second shoe just isn’t going to drop.
We *knew* it and it was a long time coming!
Over due, in fact.
The United States, is this decades Enron.
Yep. Obama was hoping S&P would hold off a while on this so he might have a shot at a 2nd term to continue his destruction of the USA.
Now, it's "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
Yeah, the song "Happy days are here again" was copy righted 1929, too......
The PPT is working overtime.
On August 23, 2000, Enron stock hit $90 per share. On November28, 2001, it had fallen to less than $1.00 per share.
Like the U.S., Enron spent a lot of time and effort hiding the truth but eventually ran out of time.
The market knows that Helicopter Ben will never turn off the spigots (until he’s forced kicking and screaming somehow), and that QE 3 is a certainty. That, and low rates, are all that matters.
Of course, I was being sarcastic, but my tag disappeared.
This seems patiently illegal!
You know, the thing that really amazes me, given all that has happened and is happening, is the number of people who don’t see what is on the horizon. Those who are ignorant of history are indeed doomed to repeat it. The sad part is they’re taking us along for the ride!
The Obama administration privately urged Standard & Poor’s in recent weeks not to lower its outlook on the United States — a suggestion the ratings agency ignored Monday, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Forked-Tongue-In-Chief didn't use the right words when talking with S&P. It's not about the deficits, it's about the debt. China is in a panic, saying that the United States needs to "protect" its creditors -- or, in other words, people who hold our current debt. Like a person who has reached the credit limit on all the credit cards, it's a very unwise person who gets yet another credit card -- assuming he/she can find a credit card company willing to do so. You put together a plan to pay back the debt, and you start paying down the principal as well as the interest.
Mr. President, when will we reduce the principal on our existing debt by one dollar? When will we scale back our spending beyond our means? How do we get this started in 2012, not 2022?
Mr. Speaker of the House, same question
(An aside, if presented with the same arguments, I'd ignore the suggestion, too. Standard & Poor's reputation is tarnished enough as it is, so they can't afford to white-wash the problem. Truth. Handle it.)
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