As we previously reported, Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit rating on Tuesday, citing fiscal concerns, a deterioration in governance, political polarization reflected in part by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and repeated down-to-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills.

Richard Francis, a senior director at Fitch Ratings, explained to Reuters on Wednesday why the rating company considered the events of Jan. 6 as one of its reasons to downgrade U.S. debt:

Fitch downgraded the U.S. from a rating of “AAA” to “AA+” after several years of the aforementioned hyperpartisan budget and debt ceiling battles. The battles have led to a spiraling national debt and a lack of faith in the U.S. government to handle it.

Is it any wonder? One might argue that while Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a singular event, the budget battles, while always confrontational, have grown markedly more partisan over the last several years, which would suggest that the down-to-the-wire slugfests will continue to occur.

Here’s more from Fitch:

The rating downgrade of the United States reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance relative to ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’-rated peers over the last two decades that has manifested in repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions.

[…]

[T]he government lacks a medium-term fiscal framework, unlike most peers, and has a complex budgeting process. These factors, along with several economic shocks as well as tax cuts and new spending initiatives, have contributed to successive debt increases over the last decade.

Additionally, there has been only limited progress in tackling medium-term challenges related to rising social security and Medicare costs due to an aging population.

Again, is it any wonder?

This time, in a different context, which largely explains the down-to-the-wire budget and debt ceiling battles. The Democrat Party continues to do its damnedest to spend (your money) like drunken sailors, as it lies to you about this “investment” and that “investment,” all the while intentionally ballooning each subsequent budget and continually pushing to increase the national debt.

As to challenges related to rising Social Security and Medicare costs, you know the drill.

Every time a Republican lawmaker talks about gradually increasing the age at which future retirees can start receiving full Social Security retirement benefits or subsidizing private insurance options that compete with Medicare, the Democrats scream bloody murder, howling about the evil Republican Party (lying their asses off) planning to cut or eliminate Social Security benefits. Congressional Republicans then get weak in the knees, fold up like a cheap suit, and the band plays on as if it were playing on the deck of the Titanic.

Joe ‘Never Met a Buck He Couldn’t Pass’ Biden Passes the Buck

As my colleague Nick Arama reported on Tuesday, Team Biden blew out a few hamstrings and a couple of octogenarian kneecaps rushing to blame… wait for it… Donald Trump for the Fitch downgrade.

Twisting herself into a hypocritical pretzel, embattled Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen blasted the downgrade in a statement, calling it “arbitrary and based on outdated data,” while a senior Biden administration official ridiculously called the rating downgrade “a bizarre and baseless decision for Fitch to make now.”

How so? How about one word, Team Biden? Bidenomics.

By its simplest definition, Bidenomics is about more government, more federal spending, and more national debt, which has led to inflation, higher prices, reduced purchasing power, and more than seven out of 10 Americans believing the country is on the wrong track under the disastrous policies of Joe Biden.

I ask again — is it any wonder?

Finally, world-renowned fiscal expert White House stand-up- comic Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre tossed in her incisively awesome two cents, babbling:

We strongly disagree with this decision. The ratings model used by Fitch declined under President Trump and then improved under President Biden. and it defies reality to downgrade the United States at a moment when President Biden has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world.

And it’s clear that the extremism by Republican officials — from cheerleading default to undermining governance and democracy to seeking to extend deficit-busting tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations — is a continued threat to our economy.

Oh, please. A parrot would have a better understanding of the above crock of crap while parroting it than does KJP while reading it from her trusty binder.

And remember, as I’m fond of reminding conservatives: Democrats don’t think you’re stupid. On the contrary, they know you’re not, which is why they peddle lies and misinformation to their low-information rank-and-file voter base, like the above bilge from Karine Jean-Pierre.

The Bottom Line

Fitch’s reference to Jan. 6 as one reason for the credit downgrade might not sit well with some — and again — it’s only one reason, but here’s the thing. Credit-rating companies — in both the investment business and loan business — like stability. Stable underlying investments carry less risk.

So with Fitch pointing to deterioration in governance as a larger concern, the events surrounding Jan. 6 can be viewed as just one related issue Fitch considered.

That said, the major never-ending issue is the total fiscal irresponsibility of the Democrat Party, which has for more than six decades pushed out-of-control government spending as a means to an end — with that end being votes in the ballot box.