S&P Ratings Head John Chambers: Congress Should Have “Raised The Debt Ceiling In A Timely Manner”

Posted by | August 6, 2011 12:43 | Filed under: Top Stories


John Chambers, head of sovereign ratings at Standard and Poor’s, was asked by CNN who’s to blame for the rating downgrade.

“This is a problem that’s been a long time in the making — well over this administration, the prior administration.”

Congress should shoulder some of the blame, he said. “The first thing it could have done is to have raised the debt clinging in a timely manner so that much of this debate had been avoided to begin with, as it had done 60 or 70 times since 1960 without that much debate.”

Chambers cited how revenue from the wealthy would have helped.

Chambers added that his agency’s decision is likely to have a long-term impact. “Once you lose your AAA, it doesn’t usually bounce back,” he said.

He pointed to the decision by Congress about whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts as one crucial area. “If you let them lapse for the high-income earners, that could give you another $950 billion,” he said.

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Copyright 2011 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

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