Carol Platt Liebau
Townhall
1/22/2014
In August 2011, three days after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the triple-A credit rating of the United States, Harold McGraw — chairman of McGraw-Hill Financial — says something pretty unpleasant happened to him. From Bloomberg:
In his court statement, McGraw, 65, said Geithner called him on Aug. 8, 2011, after S&P was the only credit ratings company to downgrade the U.S. debt. Geithner, McGraw said, told him that S&P would be held accountable for the downgrade. Government officials have said the downgrade was based on an error by S&P.
“S&P’s conduct would be looked at very carefully,” Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. “Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government.”
Thereafter, the feds brought a $5 billion lawsuit against S&P, charging fraud…
The article continues at Townhall.com
Related: Varney: Geithner’s Threat Undermines ‘Objective Financial Analysis’
…Varney maintained ratings agencies are “supposed to give objective financial judgment,” and should not be under intimidation for their observations. To do so would “damage the whole idea of objective financial analysis,” he said.
“They are supposed to say objectively how a company, or a government, is doing. You are not supposed to threaten or intimidate a ratings agency,” Varney said.
Report: Angry Geithner Once Warned S&P about US Downgrade
Update: Tim Geithner Threatened S&P with “Accountability” After The Firm Downgraded America’s Credit Rating
…Gangster Government…
