Standard & Poors says the economic outlook for America is negative

[longfingernails]

Can you blame them, after the humungous dose of socialism Obama has inflicted on this once mighty nation?

Thank heavens for George Osborne. Without him, we too would be in danger of losing our AAA credit rating.

Nah, Obama hasn't caused this.

What's caused it is the yanks have been running a ridiculous deficit for as long as I can remember. So much so that the national debt counter had to have extra digits added!

Now they're slowly realising that they have to pay the money back. The austerity cuts they've been so painfully making are frankly laughable. They've cut $38 billion off a deficit measured in trillions. And they somehow managed to ringfence defence spending rather than health or education!?!? This is despite US military spending being about 50% of the world's military spending!

I doubt they have to balls to do what it takes. Once they are forced to (or indeed wake up to the fact they're deep in the shit), the inevitable fallout will make the current crisis seem like a walk in the park.

They also won't be amused either when they wake up and realise the US economy is owned by China & Saudi Arabia!

You really are ignorant if you believe this was all caused by Obama.

Bush was bad - very very bad - he was a spendaholic too - it's just he spent on wars.

However, Obama's expansion of the American deficit is scary. Even subtracting the immense bailout, the borrowing due to Obamacare alone will be well into the trillions.

You do realise he is not autonomous and can't spend much of anything without Congress.

Probably not.

Really, I don't know why I bother engaging with someone who so obviously has FA grasp of how it really works there and who's never lived there and who is sitting a computer 5000 miles away spraffing a bunch of bullshit.

'Bush was bad - very very bad - he was a spendaholic too - it's just he spent on wars.'

and that bank bailout . . .

Honestly, long, stick to your own country it's already easy enough to make a fool out of oneself just with that.

A centerist agenda (I think it's stretching it to call Obama a socialist) and social reform is always going to be difficult when there's a shortfall of cash. But I don't think it's Obama's 'fault' exactly. The whole system in America seems designed to stifle change - either way...

the borrowing due to Obamacare alone will be well into the trillions.

Yeah far better people died because they could not pay their medical bills.

The USA needs to grasp the fact the American century is over and cut their military spending to the bone.

The bric countries if they have any sense will grow their economies but not their military (except China)

Yes - I am perfectly aware that Congress has to authorise the budget.

Yet Obama and the Senate Democrats have vetoed the perfectly sensible Ryan plan.

If the Ryan plan had been passed, America would not be on negative credit rating watch today.

You thought it was sensible, they didn't. They're elected officials.

Honestly, why do you care, other than using some foreign country you don't even live in and are not a citizen of to make senseless comparisons to laud Osborne?

That's really clutching at straws.

But that's unsurprising.

As for Obama being a socialist. Haahahaahahaaahaahaaahaaahaaaa!

Oh, a veto can be over-ridden, too.

expat, you need to remember from LFN's perspective anyone with a caring bone in their bodies is a socialist.

You only need to read her solution to cutting benefits after a set period of time all benefits should be removed and the state should only provide one hot meal a day to realise LFN is not a very nice or decent person.

Never in practice. 67 is far too high.

And I think it is perfectly valid to have an opinion on foreign politics - especially US politics.

The biggest problem the GOP has is in finding a credible challenger to Obama. If they can find someone appealing, Obama is gone. But even I couldn't vote for McCain in 2008 in good conscience, with the idiot Palin on the ticket. I hope Mitch Daniels - or even better - General Petraeus - runs - and destroys Obama utterly and totally.

She makes Tea Party members look like wooly liberals :o.

And yes, I have two personal mates who are Tea Party members .

The problem is LFN is obviously intelligent and very well informed, it's the sheer inhumanity and spite of her posts I cannot fathom.

BTW Obama will walk the next election.

The Democrats will vote for him again.

The undecideds will look at idiots like Palin and those from the religious fascist right and shudder

The fight between the "decent" republicans and the right wing nutters will tear the party apart.

And finally The Tea Party you just have to laugh.

It's hard to say how it will go without being there. I'll be there over the summer for 5 weeks, even that close to the election, it can be hard to figure out what's going to happen.

Obama will obviously walk it if Palin is his opposition. She is completely thick - it was a worldwide humiliation for conservatives across the planet that she got anywhere near the reins of power.

But Palin isn't going to be his opposition. There are plenty of sensible Republicans. Jon Huntsman and Mitch Daniels are the ones to watch. Huckabee is very friendly but too evangelical. And if General Petraeus is the GOP nominee, Obama will reap everything he deserves. Petraeus is lionized by Americans - Democrat and Republican alike. I don't actually think he would be a very good President - but he would be an electrifying candidate.

is it yesterday again?

LFN you may be right but the ghost of the Bush era still clings to the GOP

I know little about Petraeus but at least he will know about all the waste and corruption in the military and their unholy alliances with big business, the question is would he stop it.

I think you underestimate Palin.

I know I did.

After going home last year, I no longer do.

The campaigns should start clicking into high gear in August.

I'll be postal voting again.

George W is pretty thick, and he got elected. Reagan was hardly a Mensa poster-boy. (Although to be fair some intelligent people make appalling leaders - I bet Nixon's IQ was quite high.)

Amusingly, it was (at least in part) Standard & Poors' rank incompetence in rating equities and other financial instruments that caused this unholy mess in the first place.

Exactly, edam.