Lower Bond Rating? Buyers Binge

It's been four years since the U.S. government's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's after members of Congress threatened to put the world's biggest economy on the brink of default because of federal spending they opposed.

Now there's another threat of government paralysis, this time largely over opposition to financing Planned Parenthood. There are many things to fear about the politics of brinksmanship, but the effect of another rating downgrade is not one of them.