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Govt Officials: US Expecting S&P Downgrade — Based on ‘Serious Mistake’ in Analysis* — Two government officials tell ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the rating of U.S. debt from its current AAA value.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, TPMDC, The Agonist, PoliticusUSA, Politics, Guardian, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, The Lonely Conservative, Taylor Marsh, Pajamas Media, Wonkette, The Raw Story, Vox Popoli, HotAirPundit, The Other McCain, Hot Air, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, MarketBeat, Questions and Observations, Jared Bernstein, FT Alphaville, The Right Scoop, Gretawire, Capital Tonight and Donklephant
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Math Error Fuels Fight Over Rating — A mathematical error discovered late Friday by Treasury Department officials threw into limbo, at least temporarily, plans by ratings firm Standard & Poor's to downgrade the top-notch AAA credit rating the U.S. has held for 70 years, people familiar with the matter said.


United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P — (Reuters) - The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. — S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus …
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Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Washington Post, UPI, Dow Jones Newswires, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, CBS News, The Reality-Based Community, Conservatives4Palin, blogs.abcnews.com, National Review, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, TalkLeft, The Agonist, The Right Scoop and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

S&P and the USA — OK, so Standard and Poors has gone ahead with the threatened downgrade. It's a strange situation. — On one hand, there is a case to be made that the madness of the right has made America a fundamentally unsound nation. And yes, it is the madness of the right …
Discussion:
The Mahablog, HousingWire, Hullabaloo and Guardian


S.&P. Downgrades Debt Rating of U.S. For the First Time — WASHINGTON — Standard & Poor's removed the United States government from its list of risk-free borrowers for the first time on Friday night, a downgrade that is freighted with symbolic significance but carries few clear financial implications.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Swampland, JustOneMinute, Online NewsHour and New York Magazine

S&P Downgrades U.S. Debt Rating — Press Release — Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government's “AAA” sovereign credit rating Friday in a move that could send shock waves through global. The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's:
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Prairie Weather, Free exchange, NO QUARTER, The Gateway Pundit, Erick's blog and The Raw Story

S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating for first time — Standard & Poor's announced Friday night that it has downgraded the United States credit rating for the first time, dealing a huge symbolic blow to the world's economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.

United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ Due To Political Risks, Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative … TORONTO (Standard & Poor's) Aug. 5, 2011—Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’.
Discussion:
Libertarian Republican, The Gateway Pundit, DealBook and NewsBusters.org


S&P Strips U.S. of Top Credit Rating — Unprecedented Downgrade Comes After Last-Minute Standoff; Treasury Says Decision Is ‘Flawed by a $2 Trillion Error’ — A cornerstone of the global financial system was shaken Friday when officials at ratings firm Standard & Poor's said U.S. Treasury debt …

S&P Downgrades US To AA+, Outlook Negative - Full Text — United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative — 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.
Discussion:
Doug Ross, Hot Air, FrumForum, Sky Dancing, Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs and ECHIDNE of the snakes


S&P Cuts U.S. Rating for First Time on Deficit Reduction Pact — The U.S. had its AAA credit rating downgraded for the first time by Standard & Poor's, which slammed the nation's political process and said lawmakers failed to cut spending enough to reduce record deficits.
Discussion:
naked capitalism, Discourse.net, The New Civil Rights Movement, Gothamist, The Huffington Post and Pajamas Media


Boehner's Folly Leads To S&P Downgrade of US Debt — I'm no expert, but I don't think S&P downgrading its rating of US debt will, as such, have any really big practical implications other than becoming the next political football. If you look at S&P's definition of the AA rating, after all …
Discussion:
HotAirPundit

U.S. Debt Rating in Limbo as Treasury Finds Math Mistake by S&P in Downgrade Warning — A mathematical error discovered late Friday by Treasury Department officials has thrown into limbo — at least temporarily — plans by ratings firm Standard & Poor's to downgrade the top-notch AAA credit rating …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and FT Alphaville

Reid: S&P downgrade backs Dems' call for more revenue
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, Firedoglake, CNN, The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Report: S&P Preparing to Downgrade the U.S.—But Why?
Discussion:
Viking Pundit

Why the S&P downgrade was delayed
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, Mother Jones and Balloon Juice

Five thoughts on the potential S&P downgrade
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars

US Faces Ratings Downgrade from S&P
Discussion:
Jared Bernstein, CNBC, CNN, Politics and Balloon Juice

Perry's prayer gathering sets stage for national attention — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) high-profile prayer gathering Saturday is set to pave the way for his possible but increasingly likely late entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
The Note
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U.S. Troops Killed as Copter Shot Down in Afghanistan — KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people on board, a coalition military official said on Saturday.
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The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, msnbc.com, americanthinker.com, The Agonist and Politics

The Incredible Shrinking Tea Party — If there's one thing the debt ceiling battle revealed, it's that the Tea Party continues to enjoy outsized influence in Washington in general and over the GOP in particular. — So it's interesting to note that according to the internals of today's New York Times poll …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos