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Partisan rhetoric on S&P's U.S. credit downgrade continues as markets slump

By Patrick Donges

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-981055.mp3

Pittsfield, MA – In remarks made from the White House this afternoon, President Barack Obama tried to assuage market fears after credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's announced Friday they had lowered their long-term sovereign rating on U.S. credit from their highest rating of AAA down one notch to AA+.

Obama cited the latest case of government "gridlock" as House and Senate leadership agreed on a short term debt ceiling plan last week in the final hours before the deadline to avoid a historic default on U.S. debt.

Despite Obama's remarks and S&P's citing the "political brinksmanship" of the debt ceiling debate as a reason for the downgrade, legislators and candidates from both parties continued to issue statements Monday blaming each other for the downgrade, following a flurry of partisan rhetoric over the weekend.

In a release sent Monday afternoon immediately following Obama's remarks, Bob Massie, one of the Democrats vying for a chance to face Republican Massachusetts junior U.S. Senator Scott Brown in 2012, attributed the downgrade to Brown and, "right-wing extremists' disregard for the health of our economy."

Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press," Massachusetts senior Senator John Kerry blamed House Republicans, specifically those affiliated with the Tea Party. Here's Kerry speaking with NBC's Dick Gregory.

"This is the TEA Party downgrade because a minority of people in the House of Reps countered even the will of many Republicans in the United States Senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal; to do $4.7 trillion, $4 trillion, (and) have a mix of reductions and reforms."

To the right of the aisle, Tea Party endorsed Republican New York Congresswoman Nan Hayworth called on Democrats to pass the GOP controlled House budget plan introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan and said Obama should take the lead on economic reforms.

"The president has called for us to lift regulatory burdens and yet has taken no leadership on that issue nor on reaching a consensus view that all of us can live with and go forward with."

Fellow Republican New York Congressman Chris Gibson reaffirmed his support for legislation passed by the House to "Cut, Cap, and Balance," the nation's finances. The bill was rejected by the Senate during the debt ceiling debate due in part to the inclusion of a constitutional amendment to require balanced federal budgeting.

"There's no question in my mind that we would've preserved our AAA rating if we passed in the Senate and the president signed Cut, Cap, and Balance'."

Similar to Obama's remarks, Gibson also called for both parties to resume discussions on a long term solution to the country's debt following Friday's downgrade.

"Both parties need to sit down and face this reality and come up with the cuts that will put us on the trajectory to put back in place our AAA rating."

As legislators traded blows, U.S. markets fell throughout the day Monday in reaction to the downgrade, which some say could affect the outcome of Congressional elections.

Scott Klinger, Director of Tax Policy at the non-partisan, non-profit group Business for Shared Prosperity, which represents over 3,000 small businesses across the country, said the key to economic recovery will be ending corporate tax incentives.

"I think people understand that the people that big businesses have provided have left and the people who are staying and creating jobs are people in their local communities."

While corporate tax incentives and comprehensive individual tax reform have been major partisan sticking points over the past several months, Klinger said voters will be paying attention to make sure legislators do not repeat the partisanship of the debt ceiling debate in the run up to 2012.

"It's a manufactured crisis that has taken attention away from the needs of communities and small business and middle and working class people to have a sound economic footing to base their investments and their lives on."