# Fuck S&P. You made a $2 trillion mistake and it's full CYA. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806 "2011-08-07T05:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/61 "2011-08-08T01:55:09Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Anybody who thinks we actually deserve a AAA credit rating needs their head examined. > > That being said, does any of this really matter? I mean, there might be an intitial knee jerk reaction to it but ultimately, investors would come back to the US market. > > Like take China for example. What are they gonna do? Invest in the Euro? Ha! That’s laughable. Their whole economic system would collapse if they tried. No they _need_ us owing them money to keep their industry surplus system working. You just negated your initial statement. The question is how we will deal with our debt obligation, it’s not really whether we will satisfy it. The Tea Party is out there playing whoop-de-do to satisfy their own ignorant agenda, which is something they don’t even understand. The US Government could instantly satisfy it’s debt obligations just by turning on the printing presses. That would have huge, devastating implications but hey, the debt could get wiped out and there would be no default. It’s all a mirage. In fact, the largest economy in the world has the death tools to never default but it also has the ability to commit suicide and burn the house down. The Tea Party wants to burn the house down just to say, “see, I told you.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/62 "2011-08-08T16:11:00Z")
Aren’t S&P the clowns who gave Lehman Brothers worthless MBS bonds a “Triple A” rating? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/63 "2011-08-08T16:32:08Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Trying to find a way to blame the messenger and avoid the message? You’re saying it’s the dog’s fault? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/64 "2011-08-08T17:15:09Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Anybody who thinks we actually deserve a AAA credit rating needs their head examined. Then I guess [Warren Buffet](http://www.cnbc.com/id/44056326) better make an appointment for a CAT scan… > [@](#): > > “If anything, it may change my opinion on S&P,” the legendary investor said. > > … > > “I wouldn’t dream of putting it anywhere else,” says Buffett, adding that at Berkshire, the only reason he’s sold U.S. Treasurys in the past is to buy stocks or make acquisitions. And Buffett says Berkshire is still buying T-bills, even though yields have fallen so low. “If I have to buy (Treasurys) at a zero percent yield, I will,” he says. “I don’t like it, but we’ll do it.” > > That’s not to say that the nation’s recent spending habits, the Fed’s propensity to print money, and Washington’s political gridlock haven’t taken its toll on investor sentiment. Buffett recognizes that, as well. "Our currency is not AAA, and in recent months the performance of our government has not been AAA, **but our debt is AAA," Buffett adds** [. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/65 "2011-08-08T17:35:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Aren’t S&P the clowns who gave Lehman Brothers worthless MBS bonds a “Triple A” rating? Actually, it gave Lehman an A rating up to a month before its collapse. It rated all those toxic assets it held as AAA. So yea, they are a bunch of clowns. Krugman had an excellent column today: [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/credibility-chutzpah-and-debt.html?ref=opinion](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/credibility-chutzpah-and-debt.html?ref=opinion) It’s almost as if he took this pit thread and decided to rewrite it in more civil tones. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/66 "2011-08-08T20:47:59Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > You’re going to post in support of some asshole bashing America from Hong Kong? > > Commie. Well sure, as long as he can somehow make all of this out to be the fault of the filthy liberals he is all good. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/67 "2011-08-08T22:36:59Z")
A friend of mine does documentation for the applications S&P uses. Since much of her work is documenting the solutions that the help desk resolves issues with she her desk is in the help desk area. From her, a hearty FUCK YOU to people who think that it will help to phone the S&P tech support line and threaten the staff answering them. I mean really - do you honestly think the girl on the help desk is the one who made the calculation error or that she has ANY control over it? One or two crazies, hey people are nuts but they’ve been answering constant calls all day. Shesh people get a grip. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/68 "2011-08-08T22:50:07Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Well sure, as long as he can somehow make all of this out to be the fault of the filthy liberals he is all good. Hey, I’m not just blaming democrats. I’m accusing them of being ineffective when it comes to governing. At least the republicans are on the same page. Now it might be in the book of Job and totally meaningless when it comes to any rational solution, but there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/69 "2011-08-08T23:29:50Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Question for those who believe the rating makes sense, given the current circumstances…France is currently rated AAA, yet they do not control their own currency, have a much more generous welfare state, and are experiencing the same kind of banking issues the US has experienced. So what exactly merits France’s higher rating? No Republican Party in France, is there? Just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/70 "2011-08-09T03:13:59Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Hey, I’m not just blaming democrats. I’m accusing them of being ineffective when it comes to governing. At least the republicans are on the same page. Now it might be in the book of Job and totally meaningless when it comes to any rational solution, but there ya go. “Ineffective when it comes to governing”? What universe do you live in? How do you define “effective”? Getting people to buy into bullshit that is not in their best interests like unprovoked wars, huge budget deficits, unregulated banks and policies that make the wealthy richer at their expense? If that is “effective” nobody should want it. “Republicans are on the same page”? Take a recent history lesson on what went on between the House leaders and the nitwit, hobbit, Tea Party Republican freshmen. Now look at the carnage. Start with the Dow Jones. And it hasn’t ended. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/71 "2011-08-09T03:26:08Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > How do you define “effective”? Getting people to buy into bullshit that is not in their best interests like unprovoked wars, huge budget deficits, unregulated banks and policies that make the wealthy richer at their expense? ‘Effective’ is convincing people you are right and getting them to follow you. Admit it, the democrats suck at it. If you are right, and you seem to think you are, then it should give you a leg up on someone who is wrong and has to make shit up to convince others that he isn’t. For example: you claim 1+1=2. The other side claims that 1+1=3. Who has the harder time convincing someone they are correct? But then I’m assuming that the electorate are more than a bunch of poo flinging monkeys. A dangerous assumption, I know. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/72 "2011-08-09T03:29:36Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Hey, I’m not just blaming democrats. I’m accusing them of being ineffective when it comes to governing. At least the republicans are on the same page. Now it might be in the book of Job and totally meaningless when it comes to any rational solution, but there ya go. Correct. The Repubs all agreed on how to trash the economy. They acted in concert to hold us hostage over the debt ceiling. They may have been and are extremely destructive, but they govern as one. What a great concept. The tea baggers convinced the Repubs to follow their lead on crapping the economy, and to the last man they did it. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/73 "2011-08-09T04:53:32Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > ‘Effective’ is convincing people you are right and getting them to follow you. Admit it, the democrats suck at it. If you are right, and you seem to think you are, then it should give you a leg up on someone who is wrong and has to make shit up to convince others that he isn’t. > For example: you claim 1+1=2. The other side claims that 1+1=3. Who has the harder time convincing someone they are correct? But then I’m assuming that the electorate are more than a bunch of poo flinging monkeys. A dangerous assumption, I know. Wait one fucking minute. Who concluded after the GWB years that the Republicans were effectively governing the country? Look at the 2008 election results. Just because the 'Pubs have convinced the uneducated and the ill-informed that because everything hasn’t been fixed, that myths exist and that they will give them something for nothing doesn’t make it true, ethical, honest or right (excuse the pun). The modern day Republicans have somehow convinced these fools that they should vote against their own self-interests. I guess it’s like the fools that support Castro, the Syrian government and that idiot in North Korea. Just because Reagan had Alzheimer’s it doesn’t mean that all Republicans have to have Alzheimer’s. And, as I’ve said before, Alzheimer’s is no joke in our household. Believe me, it’s no joke. It eats away the brain which seems to be what’s happening in the modern day Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/74 "2011-08-09T05:12:20Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > The modern day Republicans have somehow convinced these fools that they should vote against their own self-interests. So, they are more effective at getting a ‘false’ message out there than the democrats are at getting a ‘true’ message across to the voter. Frankly, I’m starting to doubt my argument as the to which message should be easier. The vast majority still believe that a zombie jewish guy will beam them up to heaven after they die to live with his father and a ghost who are actually all the same person. I envision [King Ghidorah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ghidorah). Sorry for wasting your time. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/75 "2011-08-09T05:20:11Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > So, they are more effective at getting a ‘false’ message out there than the democrats are at getting a ‘true’ message across to the voter. Exactly. Exhibit A: George H. W. Bush, 1988 - > [@](#): > > And I’m the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he’ll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that’s one resort he’ll be checking into. My opponent, my opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no. And they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’ And he raised taxes. That statement got him elected and it cost him a second term. So yes, the Republicans are much more effective at getting a false message out than the Democrats are at getting a true message out. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/76 "2011-08-09T05:29:52Z")
Shit, you ain’t seen nothing yet! From here on out, thanks to the Supremes, they’re gonna have a **buttload** of money! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806/77 "2011-08-09T18:41:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Shit, you ain’t seen nothing yet! From here on out, thanks to the Supremes, they’re gonna have a **buttload** of money! The Republican Party has two power bases. One, the yahoos who want to trash the economy and get Jesus back into Algebra class. Two, the coporate masters of the universe. The recent debt ceiling debacle showed the masters of the universe that the yahoos are firmly in charge of the Republican Party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-s-p-you-made-a-2-trillion-mistake-and-its-full-cya/591806.md?page=3)