U.S. President Barack Obama remained largely silent as China,
the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, demanded Saturday that
America confront its "addiction to debts" in the wake of
Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.
A statement from Carney said talks that produced Tuesday's $2
trillion US compromise on raising the country's borrowing limit
had been too drawn-out and "divisive." But the statement didn't
directly address Friday's move by Standard & Poor's to drop U.S.
government debt to AA+ from triple-A.  However, later in the day
administration officials sharply disputed S&P's judgment and
challenged its numbers, saying the deal's deficit-cutting value
had been drastically understated. They charged the company's
analysis was rushed and faulty.  "The magnitude of their error
combined with their willingness to simply change on the spot
their lead rationale in their press release once the error was
pointed out was breathtaking," said Gene Sperling, head of the
White House council