States Most Likely To Go Bankrupt

The very liberal Daily Beast put out their States Most Likely To Go Bankrupt today. It has an obvious agenda.

It thought I would find a more reputable media outlet that could give us an idea of what the real numbers show.

Here is the The 10 States Most Likely To Default from the Business Insider.

I took their top ten and added a star to a red-blue map of the 2008 presidential elections. The results are predictable. The blue states are the ones in trouble.

Wisconsin CDS spread -- 72.3 bps

Wisconsin was forced to make painful budget cuts last year, including 16 days of furloughs and $5 billion in new taxes.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3

Source: Bloomberg

Massachusetts CDS spread -- 77.1 bps

Massachusetts experiences a net migrations of nearly negative 10,000 people per year, which will reduce the amount of taxpayers in the state if the trend continues.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa1

Source: Bloomberg

Ohio CDS spread -- 87.8 bps

High unemployment may have caused an unprecedented surge in Ohio liquor sales.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa1

Source: Bloomberg

Nevada CDS spread -- 131.1 bps

Nevada went nuts with next year's budget, cutting spending on education, adult care, hearing aids, speech therapy, adult diapers, and much more.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2

Source: Bloomberg

New Jersey CDS spread -- 142.5 bps

New Jersey teachers want Governor Chris Christie dead for pushing a salary freeze.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2

Source: Bloomberg

New York CDS spread -- 147.3 bps

New York state is facing a deficit of $60.8 billion over the next five years, according to Reuters.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2

Source: Bloomberg

BONUS: New York City CDS spread -- 147.3 bps

Bloomberg is launching an austerity budget and cutting 11,000 city jobs. The mayor has directed bitter comments toward the stingy state government.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Not Available

Source: Bloomberg

Michigan CDS spread: 166.7

Michigan is one of seven states where local communities might lose the support of their state government as a result of financial problems.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3

Source: Bloomberg

California CDS spread: 170.9 bps

Schwarzenegger's office just warned of "terrible cuts, absolutely terrible cuts" coming soon to California.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Baa1

Source: Bloomberg

Illinois CDS spread: 217.8 bps

Illinois budget crisis is reaching a boiling point as Governor Quinn still can't close the $13 billion gap.

Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3

Source: Bloomberg