With the looming possibility of a federal default and the lowering of the federal credit rating, raising the interest we will have to pay on future moneys the federal government will have to borrow, I find myself with a very disquieting thought: maybe we deserve it.
Yeah, it will suck. But let’s be honest — our credit rating is based on our financial behavior. And over the past few decades, we’ve really been really, really bad, collectively, as a nation, in handling our finances. Regardless of administrations, which parties hold which Houses of Congress, it’s all the same, just to various matters of degree. At some point, reality has sink in.
Preserving our credit rating is very important. But it also tends to reflect financial wisdom, and that is something we are sorely lacking.
Will it hurt? Oh, yeah. But when we look ourselves in the mirror, can we honestly say we deserve the top score? Really?
I hope we do get a resolution to this mess, and soon. I hope we avoid having our credit rating lowered.
But if we do, it won’t be because we deserve it.
