Rating threat to America's national debt

From Dailymail.co.uk

America could be the next major economy to be slapped with a debt alert after Standard & Poor's issued an unprecedented warning to Britain yesterday.

The US national debt is expected to hit critical levels even sooner than Britain's, suggesting it is also at risk of being placed on 'negative' watch by the credit rating agency.

Standard & Poor's yesterday threatened to remove Britain's coveted AAA status for the first time since it began assessing the public finances in 1978. America has enjoyed a gold-plated rating since the 1940s.