S&P Chief: America Must Curb Entitlement Spending

The United States is no longer considered among the safest financial risks in the world after Standard & Poors downgraded the U.S. credit rating, but the head of the team that made the change says entitlement reform would go a long way to restoring the country's status.

David Beers, global head of sovereign and international public finance ratings at S&P, told "Fox News Sunday" that governments and Congresses come and go, but spending on entitlements persistently drags U.S. debt further into the red.

"The key thing is, yes, entitlement reform is important because entitlements are the biggest component of spending, and the part of spending where the cost pressures are greatest," Beers said.

Beers said he faults both Congress and the Obama administration for "the difficulty of all sides in finding a consensus around fiscal policy choices," but any agreement must command the support from both political parties in order to be durable.

S&P lowered the U.S. outlook on Friday evening, saying that political gridlock has prevented the U.S. from reaching a plausible solution to getting its financial house in order. It remarked that the agreement last week to reduce the nation's debt by at least $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years "fell well short" of comprehensive reforms that some had advocated.

It added that it foresees the select congressional committee to be organized to find additional savings will likely avoid raising taxes or doing any significant entitlement reform.