And so it begins. With the outlook, it is clear that S&P believes this is not a one-step "and done" move either.

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2654228from The Market Ticker
That didn't take long....

United States of America Long-Term debt rating lowered to "AA+" on political risks and rising debt burden; outlook negative.

And so it begins. With the outlook, it is clear that S&P believes this is not a one-step "and done" move either.

Why? Oh, they were rather expansive on that point:

· The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.

"We said $4 trillion and we meant it."