[jeffkrol]

I just find putting these 2 articles (with their truthyness) together interesting;

first Reuters:
UPDATE 1-US House Speaker Boehner says not confident about fiscal cliff | Reuters

Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that the United States may lose its triple-A debt rating if budget negotiations failed to reduce the record U.S. debt, which recently topped $16 trillion.

now abc:
Moody's Set to Downgrade US Without Budget Deal - ABC News

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said it would likely cut its "Aaa" rating on U.S. government debt, probably by one notch, if budget negotiations fail.

If Congress does not reach a budget deal, about $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and tax increases will automatically kick in starting Jan. 2, a scenario that's been dubbed the "fiscal cliff," because it is likely to send the economy back into recession and drive unemployment up.

A year ago, Moody's cut its outlook on U.S. debt to "negative," which acts as a warning that it might downgrade the rating, after partisan wrangling over raising the U.S. debt limit led the nation to the brink of default.

reality??

Despite the rating cut last year from S&P and the warnings from Moody's and Fitch, the U.S. has been able to continue borrowing at very low rates. That's because investors are still buying U.S. government bonds, as economic turmoil in Europe and uncertainty in other parts of the globe have left U.S. debt and U.S. dollars looking like safe bets. In contrast, bond investors demand high rates from troubled countries like Spain and Italy.

The stock markets plunged when the downgrade happened in August 2011, but Moody's warning on Tuesday did little to ruffle traders. The major market indexes were all modestly higher in morning trading.