Bill Applegate Editorial: S&P Debacle - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

Well, it's not often that you will find me in support of President Obama.  But I can't help but agree with the administration's condemnation this week of the downgrading of U.S. Credit by Standard and Poor's.  

S&P is one of three major credit ratings agencies operating across the globe.  It's their job to evaluate the ability of companies and countries to pay their debts.  But the decision last Friday to downgrade the United States' ability to pay it's debts from a rating of AAA to AA plus is just nonsense. 

Firstly, all we have to do in the United States to pay our debts is print more money.  And, what better proof of the safety of our credit than the fact that after S&P's downgrades-----the market crashed worldwide and where did investors seek safe haven…well, U.S. Treasury bonds of course.    By the way---this is the same S&P that gave positive ratings for those mortgage-backed securities that tanked in 2008 and drove us into the recession. Critics may say that to blame S&P is to shoot the messenger.  But I don't think so.  This was a political move by a discredited ratings agency ---pure and simple---enacted more for the benefit of the agency itself than for the United States. 

Write and let me know what you think.  I'm Bill Applegate and here's the address.