S&P downgraded U.S. debt and now, apparently, Congress wants to strike back:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio), a member of the House oversight committee, requested documents Tuesday from S&P’s parent company, McGraw-Hill Cos., seeking information on whether it could have benefited financially from the credit rater’s decision. Another Democrat, Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney, called on Chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) to convene a hearing to investigate “the motivation and decision-making process” that led to S&P’s decision.
So, the federal government creates the credit rating agency oligopoly, and now when one of them dares to downgrade the federal government’s debt, they seek regulatory retaliation. Lovely.