Warning to Washington

Said the national raters of credit:
"The Congress appears not to get it;
We may downgrade a notch
While we wait and we watch
To see how out of hand they will let it."

The August 2 deadline, by which the US Congress must raise the federal debt ceiling to avoid defaulting on Treasury bonds and other obligations, is rapidly approaching. However, both Moody's and S&P have now warned that a downgrade of America's sovereign debt rating may come earlier, if the deadline looms closer without an apparently likely political compromise. This of course has alarmed the financial community, which may finally tip the political scales toward reaching a solution.