Unexpected! Consumer Index Plunges Following S&P Downgrade

Congratulations, Team Obama. We're now at a level lower than after 9/11. Heckuva job.

Consumer and Investor confidence in the economy has fallen sharply in the wake of Standard and Poor’s announcement that it shifted the U.S. credit outlook from stable to negative. Investor confidence is now at the lowest level since last September.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, has fallen eight points since Monday morning to 74.4. This Wednesday, consumer confidence is down six points from a week ago, down two points from a month ago, and down eleven points from three months ago. It is just a single point above the lowest level of 2011.

The Rasmussen Investor Index fell six points today to a seven month low. At 81.1, the Investor index down nine points since the S&P announcement, down eight points from a week ago and down thirteen points from the beginning of the year. Investor confidence in the economy is now at the lowest level since last September 18.

How bad is it?

The baseline for the Rasmussen Consumer Index was established at 100.0 in October 2001. At 74.4, overall levels of economic confidence are significantly lower today than they were in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attack.

Despite their pretending none of this mattered, Obama and his persons of hench tried to lean on S&P before Monday.

The Obama administration privately urged Standard & Poor’s in recent weeks not to lower its outlook on the United States — a suggestion the ratings agency ignored Monday, two people familiar with the matter said.

Treasury Department officials had been discussing with S&P whether the ratings agency should change its outlook on the United States to “negative” from “stable,” an indication that the country could lose its crucial AAA rating in coming years over its soaring debt levels.

Treasury officials told S&P analysts that they were underestimating the ability of politicians in Washington to fashion a compromise to curb deficits, a Treasury official said. They argued a change in ratings was not needed at this time because the debt was manageable and the administration had a viable plan in the works, the official said.

But S&P analysts told Treasury officials on Friday that they were unmoved — and released a report that expressed skepticism that the political parties could come together on how to bring spending in line with revenue.

They're prefer to live in the Land of Make Believe and pretend Obama isn't in over his head. They'd rather deceive the American people and investors rather than own up to the fact we're headed off the cliff.