below, from Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who last week voted against the compromise to raise the debt ceiling, one of 22 Republicans.....

Rep. Walsh Issues Statement on Standard and Poor's US Credit Rating Downgrade
Fox Lake, Illinois - Today, Congressman Joe Walsh issued the following statement on Standard and Poor's decision to downgrade the United State's credit rating for the first time in its history.

"The credit rating agencies made it clear that the United States would lose its AAA credit rating unless we produced a solid plan to reduce our nation's debt by trillions of dollars and put fiscal guardrails in place to protect future generations."
"The White House's response was to pursue a blank check for more government borrowing and to put Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on television to dispute the chance of a U.S. credit rating downgrade. On a news show in April, Secretary Geithner said "No risk of that, no risk."

"Heeding the warnings of the rating agencies, Republicans in the House of Representatives took a different path and passed Cut, Cap and Balance legislation which would have brought structural change to the way Washington borrows and spends money. Regretfully, the Administration responded by calling the legislation an "empty political statement" and the President threatened a veto."

"Simply put, if President Obama and Democrats in Congress had embraced Cut, Cap, and Balance and if the President were sincerely focused on the severe financial challenges facing the country instead of his re-election, this action by Standard and Poor's could have been avoided."

"Like the 22 Republicans who voted against it, Standard and Poor's said the deficit reduction plan passed earlier this week did not go far enough to stabilize our country's debt situation. Mr. President, are you and your Democrat colleagues in the U.S. Senate ready to address our debt crisis?"
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