Identified—the 19 people responsible for the U.S. bond downgrade

Standard & Poors says the reason it downgraded the U.S. bond rating WASN’T because of the deficit or the seeming inability of Congress and Obama to reach agreement on a deficit reduction package.  It downgraded the U.S. because some lawmakers were saying that defaulting wouldn’t be any big deal.  Joydeep Mukherji, senior director at S&P, said recently: “"[P]eople in the political arena were even talking about a potential default," said Joydeep Mukherji, senior directior at S&P. "That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable," he added. "This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns." See: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/after-triggering-downgrade-debt-default-skeptics-try-to-run-from-their-records----but-they-cant.php

So, who were the people who were saying default wasn’t such a big deal?  Who were the people responsible for the S&P downgrade?  Talking Points Memo (TPM) has compiled a list the 19 people destroyed America’s credit.  Here it is.  Click on the link to TPM to see what these people said:

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA),

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)

Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI

Republican Nebraska Senate candidate Jon Bruning

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO)

Read their comments here: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/whos-really-responsible-for-us-debt-downgrade.php?ref=fpb