Michael Bennet: “we have reached a point in this country's history that I never thought I would ever see, which is that the major credit…”

“we have reached a point in this country's history that I never thought I would ever see, which is that the major credit rating agencies have all said that our credit rating is in jeopardy and that the United States may face a downgrade of its debt. You and I both have had our issues with the credit rating agencies that failed to predict the crisis we were driven into by very poor business decisions. I can't even really call them business decisions-- horrible decisions that were made that drove our economy off a cliff, both here and in our financial markets, both in Washington among our politicians and among people who securitized debt, sold it off, and took no responsibility for it. Having said all of that, I don't think these agencies have any political incentive other than to shoot straight on this question of the condition of our debt. One of the greatest assets we have always had as a country is the steadiness of our credit. Countries and investors all over the world use it to finance transactions that otherwise would be difficult to do because we have an AAA rating on our debt. Now we are facing a downgrade because we cannot even have an adult conversation, a polite conversation about a path forward. People should be very clear about what this means. This is not just a Washington problem.…”