Chinese Agency Downgrades US Debt

Michael Reagan

A Chinese ratings agency downgraded its U.S. sovereign credit rating Thursday despite Washington's resolution of the debt ceiling deadlock, warning that fundamentals for a potential default remained "unchanged". Dagong lowered its ratings for U.S. local and foreign currency credit from A to A-, maintaining a negative outlook, according to AFP. Meanwhile, Daily Caller is reporting there's no actual debt ceiling right now. The fiscal deal passed by Congress on Wednesday evening to re-open the government and get around the $16.4 trillion limit on borrowing doesn't actually increase the debt limit. It simply temporarily suspends enforcement of it. That means Americans have no idea how much debt their government will incur between now and Feb. 7, when the limits are supposed to go back into place and will have to be raised. Finally, buried inside the new stopgap spending bill are several goodies including a death gratuity paid to Sen. Lautenberg's widow - a multi-millionaire, reports the Washington Times.