(image: Standard & Poors)

BY: UNA LUE

ANCHOR: ALLIE SPILLYARDS

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A freefall in the U.S. stock exchanges, after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+. Monday, new questions arose about the propriety of the credit agency’s role.

On ABC’s This Week, the Washington Post’s George Will says -- it’s hard to completely understand Standard & Poor’s timing or reasoning.

“If you read what they actually said, it’s a kind of half-baked political analysis criticizing the American system of government and how it works now. They’re entitled to their opinion on politics, but their opinion isn’t entitled to any particular respect. What did we learn from what they said that we didn’t know already? We know." 

S&P executives defended the downgrade on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 -- saying -- the U.S. is in trouble -- and Washington’s blame game is part of the problem.

Anderson Cooper: “You are saying without the doubt the recent debate the recent roll block the Congress the timing the tone the debate had the major impact on this.

S&P John Cambers : “Yes. I think that what put things over the brink." 

Anderson Cooper: “Already on twitter and other places the Democratic and the Republicans are pointing their fingers to each others, the President Obama and Congress. Do blame one side more that the other?

S&P John Cambers : “No I think that's plenty blame to go around. These has been a problem a long time they are making." 

Has S&P lost its objectivity? A blogger on Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- making a play on words -- thinks the S&P’s actions had “no standard and/poor reasoning”.

“The only other way to understand the (S&P) statement … is to view it as a call for higher taxes. It’s the right of the folks at S&P to believe that’s what should happen, but the fact that taxes haven’t gone up yet has nothing to do with the actual creditworthiness today of the U.S. government… prodding politicians isn’t a ratings agency’s job." 

So what is a ratings agency’s job?  To properly predict risk. An editorial from The Jamaica Observer says -- on that issue -- there’s a credibility gap.

“Credit rating agencies such as S&P and Moody's have an appalling record of issuing judgments which have simply been totally incorrect and unwarranted. Their most notable failure was being wrong about institutions and countries before and since the eruption of the global financial crisis. “

The Street notes -- Moody’s and Fitch -- the other two major agencies -- have maintained the United States’ AAA rating.

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