Rating downgrade: Republicans condemn Obama’s ‘failed’ economic policies

With the S&P downgrading the US credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+” for the first time, President Mr Barack Obama’s Democratic colleagues have called it a “wake-up call”, while his potential rivals in the 2012 polls condemned his “failed” economic policies, including “reckless government spending’’.

“America’s credit worthiness just became the latest casualty in President Obama’s failed record of leadership on the economy. Standard & Poor’s rating downgrade is a deeply troubling indicator of our country’s decline under President Obama,” said Mr Mitt Romney, one of the leading Republican Presidential nomination aspirants for the 2012 elections.

“His failed policies have led to high unemployment, skyrocketing deficits, and now, the unprecedented loss of our nation’s AAA credit rating. Today, President Obama promised that ‘things will get better’. But it has become increasingly clear that the only way things will get better is with new leadership in the White House,” Mr Romney said.

Mr John Huntsman, another Republican Presidential nomination aspirant, alleged that the out-of-control spending and a lack of leadership in Washington have resulted in Mr Obama presiding over the first downgrade of the US credit rating in history.

“For far too long we have let reckless government spending go unchecked and the cancerous debt afflicting our nation has spread. We need new leadership in Washington committed to fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget and job-friendly policies to get America working again,” Mr Huntsman said in a statement.

Democratic leaders called it as a wake up call for the country.

The S&P announcement “serves as yet another wake-up call that we must put politics aside as we work to put our nation’s fiscal house back in order,” said the House Democratic Whip, Mr Steny Hoyer.

“S&P has made it clear that they expect us to reach a balanced, comprehensive agreement to reduce the deficit.

The joint committee must be ready to put everything on the table so that we can restore our credit rating and return our nation to a fiscally sustainable path,” he said.

In her reaction to the S&P downgrading credit rating, another Democrat Ms Nancy Pelosi said it is important to note the role that transparency and accountability play in making such judgments.

As S&P stated: “The transparency and accountability of institutions bear directly on sovereign credit worthiness because they reinforce the stability and predictability both of political institutions and the political framework,” she said.

“The American people are watching to see if the bipartisan Joint Committee will develop a plan to responsibly reduce the deficit in a balanced way while promoting economic growth and creating jobs,” Ms Pelosi said.

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