Editorial: Not good enough; Congress should be ashamed

The recent passing of the Debt Bill was a bad joke. Anyone in Congress or the Obama administration who thinks this was the political system working is badly mistaken.

Standard & Poor’s had a very different opinion last Friday as they downgraded the credit rating of the United States for the first time in history. Wall Street’s reaction this week reflects the majority of American opinion: this Congress and administration are incompetent to lead our country.

The constant bickering back and forth in the weeks leading up to the deadline was like watching two groups of school kids fight over who gets to use the ball field while the sun is quickly setting and there are no lights to turn on. While Congress was patting itself on the back that a deal was reached before the deadline, Americans are spitting out the distasteful bile that this Congress has left in our mouths because of its (non)actions and embarrassing us to the rest of the world. The latest polls show Congress now has a disapproval rate of 82 percent, and they deserve it.

Standard & Poor’s said it best, “More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating.”

The administration’s reaction was to blame the tea party, while Democrats blamed Republicans and vice versa.

Americans and the world are waiting for true leadership to stand up and lead this country, failure to do so will reflect in history as the downfall of the United States as a world super power and leader. Washington should be ashamed of itself.