Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt  —  To understand the furor over the decision by Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, to downgrade U.S. government debt, you have to hold in your mind two seemingly (but not actually) contradictory ideas.  The first is that America is indeed no longer the stable, reliable country it once was.

Markets open low as White House pushes back on S&P downgrade  —  Washington's lawmakers and policymakers anxiously watched the open of financial markets in Asia, Europe and New York Monday to determine the impact of the nation losing its AAA credit rating.  —  The downgrade of the nation's …

VIDEO: Tea Partiers Cheer the Downgrade of America's Credit Rating  —  Is the tea party happy that Standard and Poor's, the credit rating agency, downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time ever?  —  You'd think that was the case if you were in the crowd at a tea party rally …

No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan  —  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P's decision to downgrade America's credit rating.  —  “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that.