It was only a week ago that S&P said anything under $4 trillion in deficit cuts would be an automatic downgrade for the US. So according to the CBO's just released score of the bipartisan budget, the S&P will have to cut its rating of the US in half, since the total budget cuts will be just over 50% of what S&P demanded previously. And here's the funny part: of the $917 billion in known cuts (the other $1.2 billion is factored but not even the CBO has any clue what it will look like), a whopping 2% in cuts will take places before the Obama election. 2%! This whole charade is there only to make sure the president is reelected. Oh, and of course to make sure S&P does not downgrade the US. Which is where we get back to the fun. THE FUN. Because as it turns out, that whole $4 trillion thing.... S&P was only kidding. "It appears that the perception Standard & Poor's seemed to harbour, that the U.S. needed to find a $4trn sized package in order to keep its triple A rating, is unfounded. Two credit research reports published today point to the testimony given by S&P president Deven Sharma to the Congressional House Financial Services subcommittee on Wednesday, where he seems to believe his firm has been misquoted in media reports." There you go: to S&P $2.1 trillion (of which $1.2 trillion may never even materialize) will end up being just as good, if not better than $4 trillion. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a rating agency regains credibility and stuff.

The only chart from the CBO that matters:

The full CBO pamphlet can be read here

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