6.02.2011

Moody's slams Obama request for no-strings debt ceiling increase, threatens downgrade

Wow. The normally reserved Moody's is letting it rip:
Moody's had previously indicated that its stable outlook on the Aaa rating was based on the assumption that meaningful progress would be made within the next eighteen months in adopting measures to reverse the country's upward debt trajectory. The debt limit negotiations represent a real near-term opportunity for agreement on a plan for fiscal consolidation. If this current opportunity passes, Moody's believes that the likelihood of anything significant being accomplished before the next presidential election is reduced, in part because the two parties each hopes to capture both a congressional majority and the presidency in the 2012 election, after which the winning party could achieve its own agenda. Therefore, failure to reach an agreement as part of the current negotiations would increase the likelihood of a negative outlook in the near term, because the upward debt trajectory would still be in place. At present, this appears the most likely outcome, in Moody's opinion.

Quite contrary to Timmy the Tax Cheat's threats that unless he gets a blank check the markets will freak out, Moody's is saying the markets will freak out if you give him a blank check.

1 comment:

SarahB said...

Bout time!!

Happy Super Tuesday!