Obama says US is still a AAA country

President Barack Obama on Monday blamed a downgrade in the United States' credit rating on political gridlock in Washington and said he would offer some recommendations on how to reduce federal deficits.

Obama said in a White House appearance that he hopes the Standard and Poor's downgrade of US debt to AA-plus from AAA will give lawmakers a new sense of urgency to tackle deficit spending and said he did not believe the reductions could be carried out with spending cuts alone. (Reuters)