S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating for first time

By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post
Aug. 06, 2011

Would you invest in a company which is $14 trillion in debt, has over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, has revenues falling, and is actively diluting it's shares? U.S. bonds are junk bonds. - Chris, InfoLibStandard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time, dealing a symbolic blow to the world’s economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.

Lowering the nation’s rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.” It said the bipartisan agreement reached this week to find at least $2.1 trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would not be likely to achieve more savings in the future.

“It’s always possible the rating will come back, but we don’t think it’s coming back anytime soon,” said David Beers, head of S&P’s government debt rating unit.

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