On the Brink of the Tea Party Recession

Citing "political brinkmanship," Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' credit rating last night for the first time in history. 

CORE MESSAGE

Reckless Republican brinkmanship has brought us to the brink of a Tea Party recession.

Connect: We've all had enough of reckless political brinkmanship. It's not surprising even Standard and Poor's has, too. 

Define: Republicans in Congress brought us to the brink of default by threatening not to pay America's bills -- all while refusing to raise a dime more in taxes from millionaire CEOs.

Illustrate: This downgrade could cost us all tens of billions of dollars in higher interest charges. This is the direct consequence of Republicans in Congress threatening us with economic disaster.

Expose: This is what happens when politicians want the President to fail more than they want ordinary Americans to succeed.

Offer solutions: We're better than this. We can live up to our values of putting our country first -- and we can start right now by getting rid of the massive tax giveaways for millionaires that got us into this mess and putting our people back to work.

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

"This downgrade happened because the debt deal didn't go far enough -- we need to cut more spending."

• Republicans in Congress threatened to stop paying our nation's bills, and say they plan to do it again and again. S&P pointed directly to "political brinkmanship" in explaining their downgrade. 
• We need to rebalance our books, but cutting more American jobs will hurt us, not help us. S&P repeatedly cited Republicans' unwillingness to even consider raising taxes on the richest Americans -- we need to get rid of tax breaks for millionaires and big corporations. 
• Washington Republicans continue to refuse to give up tax handouts to millionaire CEOs, corporate jet owners and oil companies, because that is who funds their campaigns. 

"This downgrade is Obama's fault."

• Washington Republicans brought us to the brink of default by threatening not to pay our nation's bills. S&P pointed directly to "political brinkmanship" in explaining their downgrade.
• President Obama inherited an economy reeling from the massive economic crash that ended Bush's term. Obama's quick action kept unemployment from shooting up to 12% or higher. We need to do more if we want to turn things around.
• The best way to reduce the deficit is to put Americans back to work. That should be our top priority, but Republicans in Congress keep voting to lay off millions of Americans.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• This is a rebuke of political brinkmanship. We have lower debt loads than other countries like France and the UK, which still have their perfect AAA ratings. Our debt level compared to our GDP is now actually better than it was before when S&P maintained our AAA rating. The truth is that our country has the ability to pay all our bills and responsibly manage our debt, if our elected leaders choose to.

• S&P ratings chairman John Chambers: "The conclusion was pretty much motivated by all of the debate about the raising of the debt ceiling...It involved a level of brinksmanship greater than what we had expected...The kind of debate we've seen over the debt ceiling has made us think the United States is no longer in the top echelon on its political settings." 

• S&P helped cause our financial crisis. They got paid by the big banks to award their AAA-stamp of approval to all manner of financial products that were actually of terrible quality and crashed our economy when they went bad.

• Republican leaders are touting their tactic of refusing to pay our bills in order to get what they want as "a new way of doing business in Washington." 

• A credit ding for the nation's debt could cost taxpayers even more billions, an outcome that irresponsible Republicans in Washington knew they were risking during the default crisis.

• Almost 3 in 4 Americans disapprove of how Republicans in Congress handled the default debate.

• Americans want Washington to focus on jobs, not spending cuts, and the Tea Party is more unpopular than ever.

• The deal could also put almost 2 million people out of work next year. That's why it's so important that the new deficit reduction super-committee focuses on creating jobs. 

• Several job-creating bills are still awaiting votes in Congress, but instead of doing their jobs putting Americans back to work, Republicans skipped town early for their August vacation. 

• While Republicans publicly accuse President Obama of not doing enough to create jobs, they've tried to lay off nearly 7 million people this year. 

• Republican politicians across the country are demanding tax giveaways for millionaires and corporations while laying off teachers, nurses, and construction workers.

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