California now lowest credit rating in the United States

California has the lowest credit rating in the country after Standard & Poor’s cut its general obligation bonds one grade because of a record budget deficit, according to a report in the San Jose Business Journal we are now in worse shape then even hurricane ravaged Louisiana:

New York-based S&P said Tuesday it lowered the state’s $46 billion of full-faith-and-credit debt to A from A plus. The move bumps California down; it was previously tied with Louisiana. Gabriel Petek of S&P’s San Francisco office said the lowered rating “reflects our view of the state’s inability to reach an agreement on a mid-year budget revision and its rapidly eroding cash position.” California has had to delay $3.7 billion in some payments — including income tax refunds — because of the budget impasse.