Government Intimidation for Downgrading Bond Rating?

   So, I'm reading along, wondering if there is any chance Standard & Poor's might again lower the U.S.'s credit rating as the U.S. again waits to the last moment before funding its bills. At the very bottom of the wikipedia article, it says another credit rating firm, Egan-Jones, lowered the U.S.'s rating not just once, but three times, and that after the second downgrade, the SEC voted to bring administrative action against Egan-Jones for a years-old situation.
   A touch of extortion or blackmail here? At any rate, I do not like it. This story might be a year and a half old, but it is still newsworthy. Our nation should not engage in such tactics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_credit-rating_downgrade

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/19/us-eganjones-sec-idUSBRE83I1BQ20120419