memeorandum: “They Used To Cane Each Other and Have Duels” (Annie Lowrey/Slate Magazine)

10:25 AM ET, August 6, 2011

Top Items:

Govt Officials: US Expecting S&P Downgrade — Based on ‘Serious Mistake’ in Analysis* — Two government officials tell ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the rating of U.S. debt from its current AAA value.

Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:

Math Error Fuels Fight Over Rating — A mathematical error discovered late Friday by Treasury Department officials threw into limbo, at least temporarily, plans by ratings firm Standard & Poor's to downgrade the top-notch AAA credit rating the U.S. has held for 70 years, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, JammieWearingFool, Riehl World View, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Crooks and Liars, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice and Tim Blair

Paul Krugman:

S&P and the USA — OK, so Standard and Poors has gone ahead with the threatened downgrade. It's a strange situation. — On one hand, there is a case to be made that the madness of the right has made America a fundamentally unsound nation. And yes, it is the madness of the right …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Guardian, HousingWire and Hullabaloo

Walter Brandimarte / Reuters:

United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P — (Reuters) - The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday in an unprecedented reversal of fortune for the world's largest economy. — S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus …

New York Times:

S.&P. Downgrades Debt Rating of U.S. For the First Time — WASHINGTON — Standard & Poor's removed the United States government from its list of risk-free borrowers for the first time on Friday night, a downgrade that is freighted with symbolic significance but carries few clear financial implications.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Runnin' Scared, Swampland, JustOneMinute, Online NewsHour and New York Magazine

standardandpoors.com:

United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ Due To Political Risks, Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative … TORONTO (Standard & Poor's) Aug. 5, 2011—Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, Libertarian Republican, The Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org and DealBook

MarketBeat:

S&P Downgrades U.S. Debt Rating — Press Release — Standard & Poor's took the unprecedented step of downgrading the U.S. government's “AAA” sovereign credit rating Friday in a move that could send shock waves through global. The following is a press release from Standard & Poor's:

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Free exchange, Prairie Weather, NO QUARTER, The Gateway Pundit, Erick's blog and The Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

S&P Strips U.S. of Top Credit Rating — Unprecedented Downgrade Comes After Last-Minute Standoff; Treasury Says Decision Is ‘Flawed by a $2 Trillion Error’ — A cornerstone of the global financial system was shaken Friday when officials at ratings firm Standard & Poor's said U.S. Treasury debt …

Discussion: Guardian and Corrente

Washington Post:

S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating for first time — Standard & Poor's announced Friday night that it has downgraded the United States credit rating for the first time, dealing a huge symbolic blow to the world's economic superpower in what was a sharply worded critique of the American political system.

Discussion: FT Alphaville, And So it Goes in Shreveport, theblogprof, PoliPundit.com, The Lonely Conservative, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Hit & Run, Weasel Zippers, Conservatives4Palin, Scared Monkeys, Connecting.the.Dots, AmSpecBlog, Shakesville and Newshoggers.com

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Boehner's Folly Leads To S&P Downgrade of US Debt — I'm no expert, but I don't think S&P downgrading its rating of US debt will, as such, have any really big practical implications other than becoming the next political football. If you look at S&P's definition of the AA rating, after all …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and HotAirPundit

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Standard & Poor's has been wrong before. But they're right now. — Standard Poor's decision to downgrade the United States has led to a lot of criticism of Standard Poor's. The White House called their performance, which included a miscalculation of about $2 trillion, “amateur hour.”

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:

S&P Downgrades US To AA+, Outlook Negative - Full Text — United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative — We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.

Discussion: Doug Ross, FrumForum, Sky Dancing, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs and ECHIDNE of the snakes

John Detrixhe / Bloomberg:
S&P Cuts U.S. Rating for First Time on Deficit Reduction Pact

Discussion: naked capitalism, Discourse.net, The New Civil Rights Movement, Gothamist, The Huffington Post and Pajamas Media

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:
Reid: S&P downgrade backs Dems' call for more revenue

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

MarketBeat:
U.S. Debt Rating in Limbo as Treasury Finds Math Mistake by S&P in Downgrade Warning

Discussion: Pajamas Media and FT Alphaville

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Five thoughts on the potential S&P downgrade

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars

The Politico:
U.S. credit rating downgraded

Discussion: CNN

Robert Reich:
Why S&P Has No Business Downgrading the U.S.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution: A few quick thoughts on the likely pending S&P downgrade

Felix Salmon:
Why the S&P downgrade was delayed

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Mother Jones and Balloon Juice

CNNMoney.com:
S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating

Discussion: Firedoglake, Zandar Versus The Stupid, CNN, The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Daniel Indiviglio / The Atlantic Online:
Report: S&P Preparing to Downgrade the U.S.—But Why?

Discussion: Viking Pundit

Steve Goldstein / MarketWatch: U.S. triple-A debt rating cut by Standard & Poor's

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
US Faces Ratings Downgrade from S&P

Discussion: Jared Bernstein, CNBC, CNN, Politics and Balloon Juice

Politics:
S&P DOWNGRADES US AAA Rating

Discussion: FOXBusiness.com, The Political Carnival, Patterico's Pontifications and Daily Kos

New York Times:

U.S. Troops Killed as Copter Shot Down in Afghanistan — KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people on board, a coalition military official said on Saturday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, msnbc.com, americanthinker.com, The Agonist and Politics

Michael O'Brien / Ballot Box:

Perry's prayer gathering sets stage for national attention — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) high-profile prayer gathering Saturday is set to pave the way for his possible but increasingly likely late entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Discussion: The Note

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
What to Expect From Rick Perry's Prayer Festival

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Right Wing Watch, Towleroad News #gay and No More Mister Nice Blog

Beltway Buzz:
Rick Perry: “I Pray for the President Everyday”

Discussion: Politics and The Page

The Note:
Rick Perry's Religious Event Mired in Controversy

Discussion: CNN, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, The Politico, ThinkProgress and Hullabaloo

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Hypocrisy, irony, and the New Civility — Meet Froma Harrop, syndicated columnist and head of the National Conference of Editorial Writers, a group that has a project called Restoring Civility as a featured part of its website. Her twice-weekly column appears in more than 200 newspapers, and she also blogs at RealClearPolitics.

Discussion: Don Surber, Froma Harrop, Popehat and AmSpecBlog