Biz Buzz

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Standard & Poorer: Stocks fell with a thud Monday after Friday’s decision by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade U.S. credit to AA-plus from the top AAA rating. You might remember S&P as the credit rating agency that rated bundles of toxic mortgages as AAA class, contributing to the mess we’re in now.

The good news is we just have to wait until the nation’s creditworthiness reaches junk-bond level to get our AAA rating back.

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We could use a lift: As the markets fell Monday afternoon, president Barack Obama down-played the downgrade: “No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a AAA country.”

Unfortunately, in a budget-cutting move, Congress decided against the roadside assistance package when it renewed the nation’s AAA membership.

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Take the money and fly: Federal airline ticket taxes are being tacked on to fares again, after a brief respite because of a congressional impasse. But most airlines continued to collect that money and pocketed it. Now with the return of the tax, some airlines are charging the tax and the higher fare.

Yesterday, we told you that All Nippon Airways will install bidets on its 787s. Now, thanks to those U.S. airlines, even if we’re not on a 787, we can all feel hosed.

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