On the recordJuly 28, 2011
I came to the floor this afternoon because the United States Government is now less than 1 week away from defaulting on its obligations for the first time in our history. As we have heard from economists and business leaders across the country, a default could result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs and in higher interest rates for every American, yet we are still debating whether we should avoid default. It is a very dangerous game, and we are risking permanent harm to the American economy. I want to examine one consequence of default for a minute. All three credit rating agencies--S&P, Moody's, and Fitch--have said a default would automatically result in a lower credit rating for the U.S. Government. I think we all understand the principle of credit rating. It is like the credit scores on record for most of us in our personal lives. The better we have been about paying our debts in the past, the better our credit score. When we go to buy a house or a car, when we ask for a loan, the bank looks at that credit score and decides how much interest to charge us. The worse we have been at paying our debts in the past, the lower our score and the more money we pay in interest. The credit rating agencies are keeping a credit score on the U.S. Government. So far, it has been perfect. The United States has never failed to pay its debts. That is why we have the lowest interest rates in the world, and loaning money to the U.S.…
