The Government vs US

The  S&P rightly drew much criticism for not being aggressive enough with the ratings downgrade of Wall Street firms, banks, mortgage and money management and investment firms prior to the crash of '08.

3 years later they are being targeted for making an even bigger mistake - learning from that lesson in '08 and not repeating it now just because the subject of the downgrade is the US Government.

As the result of that mistake, the S&P is now the target of an investigation by the SEC to uncover whether any insider training occurred as the result of prior knowledge of that impending downgrade. I have no idea whether there are insider trading issues or not. I suspect that S&P personnel knew they would have to be squeaky clean on this deal, because the downgrade would create such a furor. I also know that the Feds have incredible latitude in prosecution and once you are on their radar it is nearly guaranteed you will be gotten if they want to get you. Just read "Three Felonies a Day" by Harvey A. Silverglate. It's a chilling expose of the realities of the incredible ongoing abuses of the Federal prosecutorial system.

Kudos to S&P for having a spine. It's something we're finding more and more rare these days, particularly in our Nation's centers of power and wealth. The King has no clothes and pity on him who is brave enough or foolish enough to say so. I pray it doesn't earn them vengeful persecution. If I had to place a bet, I'd say it will. I hope I'm wrong.