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Though short-term fixes are more likely than not, Riley said the
U.S. political environment is not as good as it should be for a
country holding the gold-chip AAA rating. The past few years, Riley
said, have been marked by "self-inflicted crises" between deadlines. The major reason behind the lack of swift action in the U.S. is that the
Democrats control the White House and the Senate, while the Republicans have
a solid majority in the House of Representatives. Both sides have differing
visions of the role of the state in society and often varying political
objectives. Despite his cautious tone on the rating, Riley said the U.S. has a number
of huge advantages and that getting the country's public finances into shape
will not require the same level of austerity that many countries in Europe
have had to enact over the past few years, partly because the U.S. economy
is growing at a steady rate.
[Associated
Press;
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