Downgraded to AA+...Oops, Congress we have a problem!

Friday night saw the Standard and Poor's  downgraded America's credit rating from the prestigious AAA rating down to AA+. This decision has caused an element of shock within the United States considering that US government debt was considered to be the safest of the safe. If this holds true, why has the US been downgraded?

One reason can be the political wrangling in Washington, a major factor in this decision. So, what is it about the political situation that has led to this downgrade? The answer is political ideology over how to resolve America's debt. The Democrats on one hand seem to feel that raising an already high debt ceiling was the answer and that debt would be reduced through a mixture of tax increases for the wealthy coupled with Budget cuts.Republicans however disagreed believing that tax rises were not the answer and that major spending cuts only would be a perfect solution.

Both sides have their own reasons and both solution's actually are very credible. However, the fact that no compromise was made till a few hours before America reached her debt limit suggests that there is a long way to go before that coveted 'AAA' rating is restored.

The political situation in Washington is the major problem affecting the American economy today, if these two political parties do not learn to adapt to the situation at hand instead of pursuing their own political agenda's, the US as a whole will suffer, especially with the rise of the BRIC's.

 Congress needs to start working towards restoring America, forget about their own political skins and actually get the country into as strong a position as possible so as to continue her competitiveness with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the future looks bleak, for not just the average American, but also their esteemed elected officials.