Standard & Poor's controversial decision to downgrade the credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA-plus brought an instant angry riposte from President Barack Obama that "We've always been and always will be a Triple-A country."
But it is time for Obama to watch his own status: With his popularity dropping below 40 percent for the first time ever, critics are saying that he is fast approaching junk bond status.
It is no longer a whisper but has become a murmur among economic and political commentators that it might be better if Obama steps down after a single term. Some are urging him to fulfill his own promise and be a good single-term president rather than a mediocre man who does two terms. The New York Times ran a "news analysis" posing the question for Obama: "Is he willing to try to administer the disagreeable medicine that could help the economy mend over the long term, even if that means damaging his chances for re-election?"