Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

In the housing and mortgage bubble of the twenty-first century, the government sponsored credit rating agencies turned out to be a notable weak spot.

Awritten comment submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission with regard to oversight of credit rating agencies, File No. S7-04-07.

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.

A controversial dimension of the financial crisis has been the role of credit ratings and the perverse incentives facing rating organizations.

It is a delicious irony that the opinions of these particular scribblers get special weight only because the federal government has given it to them.

The major credit rating agencies have been widely criticized for their role in the international bust and liquidity panic in the markets for structured mortgages and other complex securities. Critics continue to question the effectiveness of rating agency performance, incentives, and oversight. Currently, numerous regulations mandate that investors use credit...

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?