White House: S&P rating underscores need for bipartisan deal

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that
Standard and Poor’s “negative” rating of the United States’s long-term debt underscores
the need for Republicans and Democrats to work together on fiscal reform and
raising the debt ceiling.

Carney said the White House would not disagree with
S&P’s analysis of the contentiousness in Washington, but said history
shows that on big issues, both sides have demonstrated they can work together.

{mosads}To that end, Carney said he believes that the “political
process will outperform S&P expectations.”

“We think a reminder that we need an agreement on fiscal
reform is always valuable,” Carney said.

Markets tumbled Monday after S&P lowered its outlook on
U.S. debt to negative.