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Peninsula readers' letters: Aug. 9
From Daily News Group readers Posted: 08/08/2011 05:35:33 PM PDTUpdated: 08/08/2011 11:36:43 PM PDT
Upward redistribution of wealth
Dear Editor: Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States has led to a lot of criticism of Standard & Poor's. The White House called its performance, which included a miscalculation of about $2.1 trillion, "amateur hour." The move by S&P, one of three leading credit rating agencies, came just days after Congress approved a $2.1 trillion deficit-reduction plan.
S&P didn't just miss the bubble. It helped cause the problem. It was paid by the banks to award its AAA stamp of approval to all manner of financial products that were anything but riskless, which ironically makes it an accessory to the resulting explosion of U.S. debt. In lowering the nation's rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said "political brinkmanship" in the debate over the debt had affected the U.S. government's ability to manage its finances.
There's not much mention anymore of the recession or economic hard times, because the people at the top are doing great. There's been an upward redistribution of wealth by cutting taxes for the wealthiest, and in subtle ways raising them for the poorest and for the middle class. The big business game is to see how fast you can rob the other guy.
Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto
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Tuesday
August 09 2011
San Mateo Daily Journal
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They helped August 09, 2011, 03:21 AM
Letter
Editor,Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the United States has led to a lot of criticism of S&P (“S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating from AAA” in the Aug. 5 edition of the Daily Journal). The White House called their performance, which included a miscalculation of about $2.1 trillion, “amateur hour.” The move by S&P, one of three leading credit rating agencies, came just days after Congress approved a $2.1 trillion deficit-reduction plan.S&P didn’t just miss the bubble. They helped cause it. They were paid by the banks to award their AAA stamp of approval to all manner of financial products that were anything but riskless (which, ironically, makes them an accessory to the resulting explosion of U.S. debt). Lowering the nation’s rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances.
There’s not much mention anymore of the recession or economic hard times because the people at the top are doing great. And that is an upward redistribution of wealth by cutting taxes for the wealthiest, and in subtle ways, raising them for the poorest and for the middle class. The big business game is to see how fast you can rob the other guy.
Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto