After a tough week for the markets, the "Cherry-On-Top" is that the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating.

Happy Birthday Mr. President, you now own the only credit downgrade in modern U.S. history.

It is going to be a tough week for Tim Geithner too.  Did he really say there was ‘No Risk’ of a Downgrade?  Unfortunately for him, there is a video showing that he did.

Here is an excerpt (from April 2011):

    Peter Barnes “Is there a risk that the United States could lose its AAA credit rating? Yes or no?”
 
    Geithner’s response: “No risk of that.”

    “No risk?” Barnes asked.

    “No risk,” Geithner said.

Here is the clip:

 

via ZeroHedge

I'm curious, how much do you think this will matter in the long-run?

Related articles

• Standard & Poor's Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating (npr.org)
• Washington Reacts To The Downgrade (businessinsider.com)