FoxNews.com ^ | 6/8/2012
Just hours after President Obama declared the private sector was "doing fine" -- a comment from which he later backed away -- one of the nation's major credit rating agencies affirmed neither the private nor public sector was flourishing.
Standard & Poor’s affirmed its long-term credit rating on the United States at AA+ and said its outlook remains negative.
The credit agency made the announcement after Obama's said Friday morning that the private sector is "doing fine" and that the GOP Congress is slowing down the economy. It was immediately pounced on by Mitt Romney and other Republican leaders, resulting in the president backpedaling by the afternoon.
Obama said late Friday it is "absolutely clear" that the U.S. economy is "not doing fine." He also said there has been some "good momentum" in the private sector but Congress needs to act to help boost jobs in the public sector. In addition to his comments about the private sector during a morning White House press conference, he said the weaknesses in the U.S. economy have to do with state and local government.
"If Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments,” the president said.
Romney, the GOP presidential candidate, responded within minutes from a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
“He said the private sector is doing fine,” Romney said.
“Is he really that out of touch? I think he’s defining what it means to be detached and out of touch with the American people. Has there ever been an American president who is so far from reality as to believe in an America where 23 million Americans are out of work.”
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