Is Any One Else Worried About Monday?

I find all the bickering to be annoying. Worried about any of this though isn't the right word. It won't last forever. It's just going to suck in the short term.
Guess we're not going to be able to move into a house that we all actually fit in for a while longer.

I'm not worried because I have little control over the rating. It does however lead me to think about my investments and any necessary changes I have to make.

No. It is what it is...

This means our Congress might pull their heads out of their behinds and start seriously looking at what they are doing and HOW they are doing it...I admit I am truly disgusted with this - the United States has held a AAA rating since this S&P began...it just shows you that debt to income ratio DOES MATTER...

If my husband was gainfully employed right now I would be buying stocks left and right...who knows - I might take $2K out of savings and do just that...

NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PANIC!!!

Like Roma says - the most important thing is the unemployment rate which hasn't been below 9% in 3 years...

However, I do get upset with people who STILL BLAME BUSH - God knows I didn't always support the man - but sweet mother of God people!! It was a DEMOCRATICALLY RULED CONGRESS when Bush was in office...the President tells Congress what he wants - it's up to Congress to make it happen - and oh yeah - this debt we have? It did NOT happen in 10 years...this has been going on for OVER SIXTY YEARS!!!! It was NOT just one party that created this mes...so stop blaming BUSH!! BLAME CONGRESS!!!

And no, Obama didn't create the mess - he's only made it bigger and worse..and he hasn't done it alone...so he is not the only one to blame.

I'm already broke, so it doesnt matter to me. Sometimes it's good to have nothing to lose.

If it makes you feel better - go ahead and panic.
It's not like any of us is going to be able to retire anyway - I've made my peace with that one several years ago.
Without looking I can tell you my 401k is screwed once again.
Has anyone ever wondered how we could keep competing with significantly cheaper labor markets while our standard of living was so very high?
A major collapse brings us down to their level.
Congress won't bother stopping it.
Oh, they'll make lot's of noise and sling mud left and right - pretty much business as usual playing the blame game.
It doesn't matter who you vote for.

Not significantly. Standard and Poors is only 1 of 3 credit-rating systems. We're still triple A on the other 2. This is basically a reaction to raising the debt ceiling, and, unfortunately, a not totally unreasonable one.

The real things to be concerned about are the unemployment rate and the low number of new jobs added. Personally, I think the thing that might turn that around would be to generate both incentives to companies (especially large corporations) to add jobs and penalties to the same for NOT creating new jobs. It's time the wealthy stop answering to the wealthy and starting being a little more concerned about the overall society they live in. How many of us are doing a job that would be better handled by 2 or 3, or even more people? If you work in a publicly-held company, the reason that every employee is expected to perform the job of more than one person is because the company answers to the stock holders, and does everything possible to look like they're cutting a profit, even if that's only achieved through lay offs, i.e., cutting costs, and to pay the stock holders as much as possible (again, lay offs are often a prime way of boosting stock holder dividends when the going gets rough).

If you can't get the private sector to do what's right to create jobs that will ultimately boost spending known to stimulate the economy, then government has a responsibility to get people to act against their own human nature (after all, we're primates and evolutionarily hard wired to vie for power and be motivated by greed). We need to reverse the Bush-era tax cuts (Obama inherited this problem -- he didn't create it). Trickle-down theory simply doesn't work. If you put more money into the hands of the wealthy by reducing their tax burden, history shows they don't put it back into the economy in a way that stimulates job growth and creation. They bank it, invest it, or purchase luxury items that require few jobs to create them. They don't put the money back into their businesses and hire more laborers. If they did, the jobless rate wouldn't be so high. If U.S. companies moved at least some production back to the U.S., even at higher costs and lower profits, jobs could be created and the economy might begin to recover. If the wealthy were taxed proportionately (or even slightly disproportionately, at least for a short term period), then perhaps the government would have the funds to create jobs that will put more people back into the work force. Remember how effective FDR's policies were for helping the U.S. through the last depression? Things like the TVA and CCC created jobs that put people back to work. We need similar endeavors more than ever today -- ones that will focus on clean energy production and reducing our dependence on oil (foreign or otherwise). The private sector, at least for now, seems to be acting short-sightedly and hasn't yet found the incentive, for the most part, to be pursuing this on its own.

Oh, and for those who are swallowing the GOP BS of "taxing the rich (or anyone) only reduces their incentives for seeking higher earnings, think about it for a minute. If my family of 4 with 2 in college can make it on less than 60K after taxes, I'm willing to bet that those making over 250K (the "wealthy") can make it on $125k after taxes just fine, thank you very much. Yes, if you make more money, you'll lose more to taxes, but you'll still have a larger income if you make more money!

Sheesh folks, we really need better education in economics for every person in this country! If you didn't get it in school, I highly recommend seeking it out know. Two good resources to start with are "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria, and the recent documentary "Inside Job" (which gives a really good overview of the the deregulation of the finance industry, which ultimately led to this crisis in the first place. You can get it from Netflix.)

Nope...not worried. What the government does is out of my hands.

We continue living within our means and don't have any credit card debt. Our mortgage is very reasonable and we actually have a lot of equity. Sooo, the govt. can go to hell in a handbasket and yet we continue to manage our finances the way the government should.

No. We keep our money. It's not in stocks, bonds, money market accounts, etc. We don't have all the credit cards and owe money. I only trust ME with our money. I don't want to rely on our system or anyone else to keep my money safe. That's just me, I know many people wouldn't agree with that way of thinking.

Politicians are playing a grand game for them. They vote whatever they believe will get them the most votes in the next election. Maybe in an ideal world that would mean most votes go the right way. But since no one knows what to do and the people only hear what the Media wants us to and the careers of these people are carefully monitored by spin doctors, none of it is working. I think we need to change all political work to be unpaid for the leaders. They should have to work in the private sector and be able to support themselves. Then they would be there ONLY for the purpose of insuring a better future for their families and friends and future generations. They should have ONE paid staff member that is an administrative assistant for each office held. All terms should be just one term and no one would even want to be a career politician if they were not paid.

I also don't think it's right that politicians spend millions and millions to get elected. They should pool the funds and create ONE political channel that is run on a shoe string like public television and people can find out what the people stand for by watching that or not at all. It's bad stewardship of public monies and no way should the private sector be able to get people hired and fired in government by simply spreading around a lot of cash.

We need to start over. We WILL start over some day whether it's a choice or not. Once everything finally falls it's going to be every man for themselves until people get it together and realize our democracy experiment has failed the way it's set up now.

Do you remember that this very congress voted themselves two $10,000 dollar raises. One in 2010 and another in 2011. At the same time they did not raise social security at all.

I'm worried about the stock market and the bond market and the housing market. Luckily we aren't the only nation going down the tubes due to political stupidity. Italy ... you need to see it in action to believe it. Greece where the politiciansand the government do not force people to pay their taxes, Spain...Ah that famous Latin mentality manana, manana and we dance at the disco all night take a three hour siesta and only work in the morning.

As for the Tea Party I'd like to lock them in them inside a church with no chance of getting out, where they can argue endlessly over important things like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. For big issues they have no heart and little brains.
If anyone votes for them again they will become wage serfs the rest of their lives due to Tea Party and GOP agendas.

No. The gov has never had my best interest at heart--so I take care of myself and my fiances----

Concerned? Yes. Worried? No. I know in whom I put my trust. :)

Cash is king . . . except when your cash buys less and less of the items you need every day (food, gas, etc.).

Our strategy is to get completely out of debt (including our home) and stay that way.

It's going to be painful for years imho. Our nation is a service/consumer driven economy since we let much of our manufacturing leave our shores. Americans are finally wising up to the perils of debt and leverage. Unfortunately that means the people who can spend are not going to spend more than they have to. I know we won't.

Since Friday's stock market crash, I have yet to work up the nerve to check my retirement account. And come Monday, I will be more afraid to do so.

It's gonna be a rough ride.

Yes. My husbands 401k probably took a horrible hit. We are afraid the stock market will crash. I am afraid to look.
Obama is getting what he wanted. He sure is "transforming" America. We are going down the tubes. Lots of change, little hope. No wonder the Communist Party USA has endorsed him.

worried, no. Sorta pissed that the people I voted for are a bunch of lame butts that argue worse than my kids, yes. If were an elected government official, and came off as greedy and petty, and partisan I would make my self sick. Obviously, my ego isn't as large. I used to love my congressman, but, I won't be voting for him again. he has played to much party politics, right down the party line. Politicians should vote for the better good of all people. Or at least the ones in their district.