I can't even believe things have dropped so low that this discussion is out there. I would like to be more confident in our ability to maintain AAA status but there are some painful days still to come. Losing AAA status means even more costly loans for our debt. But remember, Republicans know the economy. They're the experts, so they say.
The U.S. would retain its top AAA credit ratings even if the government was forced to rescue mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Moody's Investors Service Inc. and Standard & Poor's.
U.S. debt is ``well within'' the guidelines for an Aaa rating, said Steven Hess, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's in New York. The U.S.'s AAA rating is not at risk, said Nikola Swann, S&P's primary U.S. credit analyst.
``Even under a real stress scenario, the amount of money the government would have to come up with is not that large,'' Moody's Hess said. ``The amount of money required would not be so large that it would make us worry about the U.S. credit rating.''
