Who would have thought that people so vehemently against a functioning government would ultimately give the world the impression that America does not have a functioning government
Important to remember, in many cases it was a goal, not a side effect. When someone lived out their life and they're kinda miserable and unfulfilled, they might justifiably hate our world, in a sense. There's really only one way to take revenge on it, and that's to perpetuate and worsen the shittiness so that nobody can hope to escape it.
We deeply need educational reform. Perhaps even a fairness doctrine for social media. It's just a problem we can't keep ignoring. And homeschooling needs a better set of standards so you don't have Qanon mom #5000 teaching her kids the earth is flat.
What's really interesting is that the [manufactured] debt ceiling crisis in 2011 caused the credit rating agency S&P to downgrade US debt then as well...BUT, instead of causing US debt to be more expensive, investors wound up selling equities and buying MORE debt, causing interest rates to go down even more, and bond prices to increase!
Bill Gross, founder and manager at the time of PIMCO's fixed income/debt fund, the biggest in the world, wagered HEAVILY that the debt downgrade would cause interest rates to go UP, and bond prices and to go down, as they should, according to every economics textbook ever. He lost billions as a result and I think that's about when Pimco fired him even though he was the founder.
Interestingly, this downgrade seems to be largely ignored by both debt and equity markets. Markets appear to be pricing this in as "business as usual" which is sorta interesting in itself. Smart money seems to think everything is fine. I usually go with the smart money on these things, so I'm not too upset about Fitch's downgrade. (Just to be clear though, the R party can go fuck themselves.)
Fitch downgraded the U.S. credit rating due to fiscal concerns, a deterioration in U.S governance, as well as political polarization reflected partly by the Jan. 6 insurrection, Richard Francis, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, told Reuters on Wednesday.
For the United States to have its rating upgraded there would need to be a combination of factors, such as a stabilization of debt to GDP, and possibly a permanent suspension of the debt ceiling, said Francis.
S&P lowered their rating to AA+ back in 2011, honestly I'm surprised it took so long for another rating agency to drop theirs down. Wouldn't be surprised if Moodys drops theirs as a result.