Chalk up another historic achievement for the Obama presidency. For the first time ever, United States government obligations have been downgraded from AAA to AA+ by Standard & Poor's. Barack Obama's vision of America as an exceptional country, just the way Greeks think Greece is a special country, is one step closer to fruition. The S&P press release (via the Wall Street Journal) states: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA'. Standard & Poor's also said that the outlook on the long-term rating is negative. At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'A-1+' short-term rating on the U.S. In addition, Standard & Poor's removed both ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed on July 14, 2011, with negative implications. The transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment of the U.S.-our assessment of the...(Read Full Post)