US Government Sues Standard & Poor for $1 Billion, Supposedly Because S&P Rated the Government's Own Fannie & Freddie Securities Too Charitably

You can't misrepresent our account ledgers -- only we can misrepresent our account ledgers.

Or, it might have something to do with S&P downgrading the US government's credit rating.

Partly, I think, the move against S&P (the other rating agencies are also in the government’s crosshairs) is a an example of the time-honored practice of scapegoating. People are looking for someone to blame and the rating agencies seem like low-hanging fruit: “Hey, they told me this might be a great (though risky) investment, and I lost money! Whom can I blame?”

But I suspect this is not only about scapegoating. I suspect it is also about retaliation. We are living with the most fiscally incontinent administration in U.S. history, perhaps in world history. Both S&P and Moody’s took note of this incontinence and broadcast the news by downgrading U.S. debt in 2011. The result? A $1 billion lawsuit against S&P. Merely post hoc? Or do you discern a teensy bit of propter hoc there as well? I do.

And more from Instapundit-- The NYT originally reported the government threatened to bring a criminal case in order to compel a bigger settlement from S&P, which is improper.

That reference is now deleted from the NYT's report, though it survives on the Internet.

posted by Ace at 12:56 PM

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