If you look at the U.S. budget trajectory with an eye on the lessons from Japan's recent history, there's a strong case that the U.S. rating should be cut immediately.

Europe's banks and entire monetary system are in crisis from the sovereign debt of financially weak governments.  But the capital requirement for banks to hold such Euro denominated debt was zero.  It was defined as "risk free," but has instead led to massive losses.

It is old news that the S&P rating agency downgraded the US foreign-credit rating from the coveted AAA to the less impressive AA+ on August 5. But as Republicans look ahead to the possibility that they might defeat Obama, they will inevitably seek ways to recover the exalted AAA status. If history is any guide, repairing the damage done to the U.S. bond rating will be a long, hard slog.

S&P lowered the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ amidst concerns about the government's budget and the rising debt burden. Does this mean the United States is on the verge of default?

The world is becoming increasingly scary at the very time that the military will be facing 20% reductions. With each passing day, the world closes in; with each passing day, our ability to manage that world degrades.

S&P's decision could not be a more timely warning to the United States of the very grave consequences of not soon coming up with a credible medium-term program to put the U.S. government's finances on a sustainable path.

With the U.S. government deficit hovering around a trillion and a half dollars, our nation's creditworthiness is coming under increased scrutiny.

As has been generally understood and underscored by Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S.'s AAA credit rating, elected officials were willing to push the federal government to the brink of default. This was startling proof of deep dysfunction in the political process.