U.S. Credit Rating Has 1 In 3 Chance Of Future Downgrade, Says Standard & Poor's Official

WASHINGTON -- A Standard & Poor's official says there is a 1 in 3 chance that the U.S. credit rating could be downgraded another notch if conditions erode over the next six to 24 months.

The credit rating agency's managing director, John Chambers, tells ABC's "This Week" that if the fiscal position of the U.S. deteriorates further, or if political gridlock tightens even more, a further downgrade is possible.

Chambers also said Sunday that it would take "stabilization and eventual decline" of the federal debt as a share of the economy as well as more consensus in Washington for the U.S. to win back a top rating.

S&P downgraded the U.S. rating Friday, from AAA to AA+, for the first time.

Comments

[vippy]

10:07 AM on 08/09/2011

Please, with the most debt on this globe we should have been downgraded a long, long time ago! Since this did not happen, why take this serious!

[carolgregor]

08:12 PM on 08/08/2011

Finally someone willing to tell the truth. The middle class is BROKE. Homes are vacant and families destroyed and we worry about stocks. What has happened? There is no economy without a stable middle class, stop foreclosures. Stabilize families first and watch things shift.

[Dean77]

07:01 PM on 08/08/2011

Timmy says it'll never happen.

[xtralucky47]

06:59 PM on 08/08/2011

Obamas plan is working perfectly people.He really is a genious like they said. SOCIALIST COUNTRY WE BECOME . Time to move to canada.

[ivotedabsentee]

02:04 AM on 08/09/2011

How would you describe Canada's medical insurance program?

[foolkiller]

05:03 PM on 08/08/2011

OBAMA IS STILL no good muslim

[yorktown1979]

08:04 AM on 08/09/2011

Hey foolkiller, are you suicidal?

[rchris5453]

04:52 PM on 08/08/2011

Way to go Obama and Demolishers of the USA (Democrats). Your spending rampage over two years has put this country an additional 4 Trillion in Debt and now you wonder way SP has downgraded the ratings !! Thanks for destroying all the money I've saved for years for retirement and wasting the SS money I've paid for years ! Now I can go on Welfare just like you planned but you still will not get my vote !

[Ed Forney]

04:33 PM on 08/08/2011

Could it be that politcians on BOTH sides have their self interests so deeply ingrained, that they won't be able to get their heads out of their butts until this country goes completely down the crapper?

[greendayer]

04:20 PM on 08/08/2011

The headline implies that Obama has a one in three chance of being re-elected

[justobserve]

04:11 PM on 08/08/2011

S&P's credibility was trashed after the recession had started due to their bogus credit ratings. Why they are still in business? Who still believe them after they made a mistake to 2.1 Trillions but the downgrade still didn't change?

[Gene Allen]

04:07 PM on 08/08/2011

If I point the finger at Washington will it take responsability for its actions?

[[e-mail]]

04:04 PM on 08/08/2011

America is in desperate need of a leader.

[Gene Allen]

04:04 PM on 08/08/2011

Let me say it once more The senate and Congress both Democrats and Republicans voted on the budget.. The TEA PARTY DID NOT VOTE ON IT. People are like sheep Washington points the finger away from themselves and everyone believes them. Wake up! Resonsability lies with Congress and the Senate with the President. Both parties Democrats and Republicans voted on this budget. NOT the tea party.

[itzfatcat]

04:03 PM on 08/08/2011

My tax bill is about the same as medium wage for most folks. I don't mine paying it if it was spent wisely. What I can’t stand is paying for the support of welfare bums/queens, drug addicts, alcohol addicts, and illegal immigrants. Why should I be taxed more to support these folks? Come on – give me good reasons why.

[davidlugh]

04:28 PM on 08/08/2011

And why is my tax money being used to fund infrastructure in Iraq, Aghanistan and Isreal? Come on - give me good reasons why. The DOD budget needs to be slashed immediately. The US spends over 600 BILLION a year on military, the closest second is the UK...less than 1 Billion. See the problem? The US is overextended not in social programs but in military programs. This is, unfortunately, a military state and our tax monies go to support that. Your tax monies, itzfatcat, go to support health programs to assist drug/aclohol addicts get OFF their drug of choice. Heatlhcare is a necessity, not a luxury. Other 1st world countries get that, the US does not and apparently neither do people like you.

[raynegodess]

03:40 PM on 08/08/2011

If I push my car over a cliff and half way down someone jumps end and doesn't stop my car from being totalled but stops it from exploding and I say "wow you totalled my car", does that make since. That is the same as most of these people who want to blame Obama for the problem Bush left. Not to say that Obama didn't add a few ding of his owned, but Bush launched the car off the cliff. Obama should not have jumped in.

[[e-mail]]

04:03 PM on 08/08/2011

If Obama was standing at the edge of a cliff, I would def. stand behind him.

[mackerace]

04:23 PM on 08/08/2011

You can push you car over the cliff all you want and blame yourself if you like. I don't like Obama pushing my car over the cliff, filled with entitlement packages, Obamacare, bailouts...and blaming Bush, etc...while he tries to steal my other car, which he will then tax me for.

[[e-mail]]

03:52 PM on 08/08/2011

The worst of the infestation is in The White House.