President Barack Obama’s plan to cut $4 trillion in cumulative deficits within 12 years may be a “positive” for the nation’s credit quality and mark a reversal in the budget debate, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The U.S. is the only large AAA-rated country that saw its debt rise during the crisis that until now had no plan that would reverse the trend in the debt, Steven Hess, senior credit officer in the sovereign risk group at Moody’s Investors Service, said in a telephone interview in New York today. “It seems both sides of this debate are now targeting lower debt and lower deficits,” Hess said, based on ... (full story)