The Standard & Poor’s announcement that it downgraded the US credit rating quickly became ammunition for Washington’s partisan policy battles.

Congressional Republicans pounced, blaming runaway spending, while Democrats used the announcement to push for a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction that includes tax increases along with spending cuts. It was that split - Republicans insisting only on spending cuts while Democrats pushed for raising tax revenues by closing corporate loopholes and boosting taxes on the wealthy - that led to the long stalemate over raising the debt ceiling and ultimately S&P's downgrade.