United States Downgraded to AA+ Rating By S&P

Elena

So, what does all this mean?  Honestly, I won’t pretend to understand the full ramifications of this downgrading, but I can tell, from what I have been reading in the Washington Post and New York Times, it isn’t anything good.

What I can ascertain, is that being unable to fully come to the table to compromise is the financial death knell for this country.  What if, for example, the Democrats were to say, we will only allow deep tax cuts to cut 4 trillion dollars?  Can you imagine, the Republicans would have an epileptic fit!  As they rightly should.  Inversely, how could the Republicans believe that Democrats would only be willing to sign a deal based on spending cuts alone? 

Obama put a deal on the table for 4 trillion dollars, Boehner was willing to talk, but what happens, the Tea Party cuts his feet out from below him.  They actually admit, proudly I might add, they are unwilling to compromise. 

This quote from the Washington Post says it best.  There was actually the beginnings of something really grand, something this country had never seen before, Democrats willing to put their sacred entitlement cows on the table, but where were the Republicans and their sacred cows………AWOL!

S&P’s downgrade was as much a political critique as a financial conclusion. It is based on a view that American political leaders would be unable to come up with at least $4 trillion in savings, which is needed to bring the nation’s debt to a manageable level over the next decade.

How this will effect our overall economy is yet to be seen, there are many different views, the future is uncertain. 

S&P stated it bluntly when they made their decision to downgrade, it wasn’t just based on not dealing with the debt, it was based on their belief that Congress would be unable to come together to solve this pressing issue.  This wasn’t a time for ideological grandstanding, it was a time for people to come together, in good faith, and compromise.  Thanks for nothing Tea Party.  I just cannot fathom there were those in the fringe wing of the Republican Party who actually wanted to allow the United States to default?  Shocking and Frightening.   This truly was a completely self inflicted wound at time when this country could least afford it.

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 challenge,” the company said in a statement.

Hiroshima, 66 years ago

MoonHowler

If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.

Harry Truman

August 6, 2011 marks the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan and the above words were spoken by President Harry Truman.  Over 100,000 Japanese were killed by that first atomic blast.  Unfortunately, there was no surrender and 3 days later another atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki.  On August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered.

There has been much debate since the Enola Gay slipped into sky above Hiroshima and unleashed the atomic age.  Most folks of that era felt that using atomic weapons was the only way to go.  Some historians have justified the use of the bomb by talking about the number of lives, both American and Japanese, that were saved by using atomic weapons rather than a land invasion.  Others have talked about how debilitated the Japanese navy was and how surrender was immenent anyway.  The ethics question will probably go on for centuries. 

My dad was on the west coast awaiting orders for Japan.  I know where I stand.  Had things gone another way, I might not be posting this thread.  That fact, however, doesn’t make me immune to the ethics of the question of using atomic weapons on other human beings.  Where do you stand?