Republicans Pointing Fingers at President Obama Over S&P Downgrade But They Also Shoulder Much of the Blame

President Barack Obama argued for a balanced approach during the debt ceiling negotiations and he was literally laughed at by both Republicans and Democrats. The downgrade by Standard & Poors' from AAA to AA+, whether you accept it as credible or not, is rather sobering and embarrassing for this country because this was the first time in our history this has occurred. It is a sad commentary that it happened under President Barack Obama's watch, the nation's first black president. The Republican presidential hopefuls have all jumped on the bandwagon blaming President Obama for this mess, as though they could have avoided this had they been in his place. This isn't the time to take a victor lap because the S&P was equally critical of the Republicans as they were of the Democrats. You see, the message being spewed by the right wing isn't true. I would urge everyone to take the time to read the .pdf file of the S&P's decision. You will realize the following:

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.

Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability. 

In other words, the S&P specifically cites the use of the threat of default as a leverage for policy change is a sign that the American governance has become extremely unstable. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would have you believe otherwise, saying default is a good thing. Gee, I wonder what Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann have to say about McConnell's words:

“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this -- it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”

The time has come for our elected officials to do the work of the American people, what we sent them to Washington D.C. to do, not what they feel like doing. The first thing we should call for is the resignation of Timothy Geithner, as Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has done. He is far too close to Wall Street to be an objective party. We must make some tough changes in this country, not on the backs of the poor and middle class. Yes, we have to tackle entitlements, specifically those pet projects of lawmakers and we must fix the hot mess that Medicare and Medicaid have become with all the waste and fraud. If we could just cut down on government waste and fraud, we will have saved billions in the process. We can't get additional revenue if there are no revenue hikes, which the Republicans just can't seem to understand. So, do you still think the Tea Party won? On the contrary.

A lot of people are calling for Obama to step down or be impeached and blaming the Democrats but it's safe to say these people haven't read the S&P document. We at The Hinterland Gazette did and we are telling you  there is blame to go around for everyone. We didn't get to this place under Barack Obama. This was a long time come. Balancing the budget and allowing the private sector to create jobs aren't the only issues Washington needs to worry about. Raising revenues is front and center. I don't know how else you can raise revenues without raising taxes and cutting loopholes that big corporations and the rich take advantage of. We are living in perilous times and I have to echo the words of Malcolm X, "the chickens have come home to roost." We have not only been downgraded, but we have also been degraded.