{
    "href": "/post/2013/01/25/government-bans-debt-rating-agency-from-rating-government-debt/",
    "relId": "2013/01/25/government-bans-debt-rating-agency-from-rating-government-debt",
    "title": "Government Bans Debt Rating Agency From Rating Government Debt",
    "author": "pmjones",
    "markup": "html",
    "tags": [
        {
            "href": "/tag/collapse/",
            "relId": "collapse",
            "title": "Collapse",
            "author": null,
            "created": null,
            "updated": [],
            "markup": "markdown"
        },
        {
            "href": "/tag/government/",
            "relId": "government",
            "title": "Government",
            "author": null,
            "created": null,
            "updated": [],
            "markup": "markdown"
        }
    ],
    "created": "2013-01-25 22:22:20 UTC",
    "updated": [
        "2013-01-25 22:22:20 UTC"
    ],
    "html": "<blockquote>\n<p>As with any good scam, the government must maintain public confidence.\u00c2\u00a0 The moment someone says \u00e2\u0080\u0098the Emperor has no clothes,\u00e2\u0080\u0099 that shallow, fragile confidence will come crashing down and expose the scam. Dissent must be vigorously and swiftly pursued.</p>\n<p><strong>So when S&amp;P finally downgraded the US one notch in August 2011, the SEC and Justice Department announced that S&amp;P was under investigation, just two weeks later.</strong></p>\n<p>Egan-Jones, a smaller rating agency, has been even more aggressive, downgrading the US credit rating three times in 18 months. And while the federal government may not have imposed Diocletian\u00e2\u0080\u0099s death penalty, they are just as willing to squash dissent.</p>\n<p><strong>In a country that churns out thousands of pages of new regulations each week, it\u00e2\u0080\u0099s easy to find a reason to go after someone. As you read this letter, in fact, you are probably in violation of at least a dozen regulatory offenses.</strong></p>\n<p>In the case of Egan-Jones, the SEC brought administrative action against the agency within two weeks of their second downgrade. And a few days ago, the case was settled.</p>\n<p>I\u00e2\u0080\u0099m sure you have already guessed the ending: <strong>Egan-Jones is banned from for the next 18 months from rating US government debt. They\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve effectively been silenced from telling the truth.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Emphasis mine. Notice the running theme lately of prosecutorial discretion: when there are so many laws, everyone is a criminal waiting to be prosecuted. Do something the government doesn't like, they'll find something to charge you with, even if it's not related to whatever it was they didn't like.  Via <a href=\"http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-25/scam-complete-us-government-takes-page-diocletian%E2%80%99s-book\">Scam Complete: The US Government Takes A Page From Diocletian\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Book... | Zero Hedge</a>.</p>\n"
}