Well, it happened: The Standard & Poors rating agency has lowered its rating of US bonds from AAA to AA+. That should be a blow to the pride of America. But to Republicans, it apparently doesn't mean a thing.
And despite even President Obama suggesting that our rating might be lowered because the US no longer has a AAA government, Democrats seem to be wondering why S&P did it. They claim that the world knows that the US is able to pay its debts, and always has.
But the S&P made a mistake in trusting Wall Street with AAA ratings based on its past performance. It was not--and is not in the future-- going to make the mistake of assuming the trustworthiness of the US, given recent Tea Party shenanigans, and Republican commitments to more of the same. Being able to pay and paying are two different things. Tea Party Republicans have shown that.
Their threat did not result in default in paying of the nation's bills, but it certainly prevented the US from addressing the nation's debt as adequately as it might have. They blocked a ten-year compromise package of $4.7 trillion in debt reduction, that President Obama and Speaker Boehner had constructed. Another proposal of $9 trillion recommendation that had been submitted by Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn was never even considered. Instead the Tea Party, pretending to be the party of debt reduction, forced compromise of about $2.7 trillion.
The reasons for the S&P downgrade are obvious: (1) a government where the Republicans' tail wags the dog, (2) the Republican Senator leader Mitch McConnell's confidence that Republicans still will be able to practice political blackmail after the 2012 elections, and (3) the Republican promise to stack the congressional Super Committee with people who will not compromise.
Democrats are partly to blame for our present economic condition, but only a small part and in a different way. They could have prevented our invasion of Iraq and the Bush tax cuts with threats of a Senate filibuster. But most Democrats believed George W. Bush, having been elected President of the United States, leader of the American people, deserved the benefit of the doubt on his decisions. Bush unfortunately took advantage of their trust to invade Iraq, with no credible evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and tax cuts--presumably as means of addressing the recession--but which actually exacerbated it..
Congressional Democrats respected the leadership prerogatives of Bush, hoping Bush would be successful, because when if Bush succeeded, the American people succeeded. Democrats did not seek to make him fail. Republicans have done just the opposite. Acceptance of Obama's agendas would be a self-repudiation of their control (and too often lack of control) during the previous eight years. So voters know where the problem lies and when it started. And it's not with both parties as the media seems committed to suggesting.
The cloud hanging over the US willingness to pay its bills will continue until the Supreme Court either declares that the law giving Congress the right to not raise the debt ceiling is unconstitutional, or that the President, with certain limitations, has the authority under the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling. The S&P needs to hear that. If the Supreme Court does not act--or for some reason feels that does not itself know what the 14th Amendment means--then Congress can quiet the concerns of rating agencies by rescinding the law requiring congressional approval before the nation's debts can be paid. The passage of such a law should be at the top of President Obama and the Democrat's agenda. It likely would re-establish a AAA rating of our bonds and clear the path toward meaningful bipartisan compromise of debt-reduction, quiet the financial markets and help bring certainty into the economy. Both parties should explain why clearing this issue should not be at the top of both parties immediate agendas.
George W. Bush was able to have his way as president because Democrats did not have as their goal making him a one-term president. Certainly Democrats, like Republicans, will always want to win the next election. But the Democrats never before tried to further their chances in the next election but deliberately throwing stumbling blocks in the way of a Republican president. Present Republicans, alone, brought B- politics to Washington. Their assault against almost everything Obamab pursues is both persistent and malicious. It does not matter that what Obama wants may be good for the American people. If it is not much better for wealthy Americans and American businesses, then it is not nearly good enough.
"Without a vision a nation perishes." It also perishes if pursues a different vision every four or eight years. That vision for American must be a shared vision. Circumstances may affect pursuit of that vision but not affect its being shared. America must be a good place to live for conservatives and liberals. It must be a place of peace for Democrats, Republicans and Independents. It must be a vision shared and realized by peoples of all colors, genders sexual orientations and religions. "My way or the highway" will eventually puts all of us on the highway.
America has become less than AAA in politics because we have become less than AAA people--and falling.
There is still hope, however, that Americans and their bond ratings again can be rated AAA.. But the President must force Republicans to react publicly to every ideas in his agenda that supports job-growth, debt reduction, economic recovery, a return of AAA politics and a return to AAA attitudes among the American people. He must force Republicans to either accept, reject or seek compromises.
Republican constituents must remember that it was Democrats that prevented the default in payments of our nation's bills. Regular congressional Republicans could not gather enough Tea Party votes to prevent them from dancing in the streets.
If Obama and Democrats still cannot show voters why Republicans should not control any level of government in 2012, then perhaps neither should they.
Ronald C Spooner
Email: rcspoon@earthlink.net
Blog: ronaldcspooner.blogspot.com
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