Sarah Palin: I saw America's credit downgrade coming

In a lengthy note posted to her Facebook page, Sarah Palin on Monday lambasted President Obama for his handling of the nation's economic woes - and said she was "surprised that so many people seem surprised" by the U.S. government's recent credit rating downgrade.

"I've been writing and speaking about it myself for quite some time," Palin writes in the note.

Special Section: America's Debt Battle

On Friday, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S.'s credit rating from AAA to AA+, a move it attributed to shortcomings in the recently passed debt limit deal and instability in the policymaking process that accompanied it.

Palin says she warned of the downgrade - and that "one doesn't need a Harvard Law degree" to know that the nation's credit rating was at risk.

"Many commonsense Americans like myself saw this day coming," Palin writes in the note, which runs at more than 2,300 words. "By what magical thinking did we figure we could run up perpetual trillion dollar deficits and still somehow avoid the unforgiving mathematics of a downgrade? Nothing is ever 'too big to fail.' And there's no such thing as a free lunch. Didn't we all learn that in our micro and macro econ classes? I did at the University of Idaho. How could Obama skip through Columbia and Harvard without learning that?"

The note, an apparent effort at asserting her relevance in the nation's heated economic debate, marks the latest in a series of moves seemingly aimed to keep Palin in the news in the event she decides to enter the 2012 presidential race.

In late May, after maintaining a relatively low profile for several months, Palin announced the "One Nation" bus tour, which was touted on the SarahPAC website as "part of our new campaign to educate and energize Americans about our nation's founding principles." Along with a recent build-up of staff, the release of a pro-Palin documentary and her reported purchase of a house in Arizona, the moves seem to suggest that Palin is perhaps laying the groundwork for a campaign. 

Palin, who has said she will announce her decision by the end of the month, remains mum on it so far - although she does, in her post, take particular aim at Mr. Obama's efforts to "fix" the nation's problems.

"Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to 'fix' the debt problem," Palin writes on Facebook. "The more he tries to 'fix' things, the worse they get because his 'solutions' always involve spending more, taxing more, growing government, and increasing debt."

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She continues: "This debt problem is the greatest challenge facing our country today. Obviously, President Obama doesn't have a plan or even a notion of how to deal with it."

"That's why he can't be re-elected in 2012," she adds.

Palin goes on to criticize Mr. Obama's energy policies, and, invoking nostalgic tales of American history, implores readers to remain optimistic about the nation's future.

"We are the sons and daughters of that Greatest Generation who stormed the beaches of Normandy, raised the flag at Iwo Jima, and made America the strongest and most prosperous nation in the history of mankind," she writes. "By God, we will not squander what has been given us!"

Palin ends the note, entitled "Conquering the Storm," urging Americans to get involved in politics - though she makes no allusions to her own possible bid.

"Our destiny is still in our own hands if we pick ourselves up and act responsibly and quickly. We must all get involved," she says. "Please get engaged in 2012 electoral politics and support experienced, vetted, pro-free market fiscal conservatives who will dedicate all to preserving our Republic and protecting our Constitution."