Downgrade.

Kleptocracy hits a wall.

So there it was – one of the big three agencies putting US on a second-rate level in regards to the ability and willingness to fulfill its financial obligations and pay the bills on time.

And in one way it’s just a very lagging indicator, and something that lowers the US position on the economic credit list – after already falling way down on other national indexes like education quality, health care, infrastructure, political system and federal budget sustainability. It’s just the facts.

The S&P had previously put the bar on a $4tr deficit reduction over a decade to maintain the AAA rating, a similar amount to what the political leaders initially tried but failed to accomplish, and thus the agency lost faith in the country’s outlook after the debt-deal landed short of this requirement. The agencies are somewhat reluctant to state things public that could turn them into political players – but between the lines it’s all obvious – a balanced approach could’ve avoided this.

So now the US is downgraded by US rating agencies (top chinese agencies have already done it twice this year), the deficit is still growing, the debt crossed 100% of GDP last week, unemployment is standing still (with unofficial numbers at 20%), companies are hoarding cash, new jobs are made overseas, and a bunch of delusional and angry folks in Congress are blocking everything.

This has to shred at some point.

Watching some interesting cable shows on russian or iranian state tv networks gave some refreshing perspectives last night. Lots of centrist and pragmatic americans are starting to fill up the international talk shows and saying things out loud that would’ve been quickly banned by the US corporate media. Moderate politicians, academics and pundits are sharing their straight views with the rest of the world. The gist of it: the 1% parasites are driving this. And it’s taken too far.

And one misplaced thing about the whole debate in Washington, from a centrist point of view, is this wrapping of necessary policy choices into terms like “shared sacrifice” and “protecting the most vulnerable”. It’s simply about what works. Delusional economics creates disaster for all. At this point it’s not about “fairness” – it’s about survival.

Luckily though, according to polls, a solid 80% of the people are already on the right page in terms of choosing a balanced approach, views on the digusting July in congress, taking the middle road for the future, and doing what’s right to fix the country and move forward.

So right now it’s all about cleaning out the crazies in congress, passing some bills to make jobs and new revenues, and curbing the 1% parasites. The sooner, the better.

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