(Just The News)—Standard & Poor’s 500 downgraded its credit rating of city of Los Angeles general obligation bonds, citing its “weakening financial position and an emerging structural imbalance.” Los Angeles faces a $1 billion deficit, having burned through its once-record reserves in just two years.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is currently seeking a state bailout, but given that the state says it has “no capacity” for new spending commitments, it’s unclear if the funding will materialize.
S&P warns that if trends continue, it could further downgrade the city’s credit rating, which would further increase borrowing costs due to higher associated risk of default.
At AA-, the new rating still means the city’s bonds are investment grade and well above the junk bond threshold of BB+. However, without changes, S&P warns that there’s a one-in-three chance that it could downgrade the city’s credit rating yet again, reflecting anticipated difficulty in cutting runaway spending.
“The negative outlook also acknowledges various difficulties that could challenge the city’s efforts to achieve structural balance and restore its reserve fund in the near term: heightened litigation risk, limited flexibility to unilaterally reduce personnel costs under current labor contracts, and slowing economic growth, notwithstanding any additional lasting economic and revenue impacts from the wildfire events across Los Angeles County in January 2025,” wrote S&P.
Under the last budget from former mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles had a record $648 million in reserves. Bass spent half of the reserves in just one year, leading City Controller Kenneth Mejia to warn in 2024 that the city is “going broke,” and would soon have so little reserves left it would be required to declare a “fiscal emergency” — highlighting how the city’s financial woes are structural and pre-date the January wildfires.
S&P also warned that liabilities from the city’s utilities — noting the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in particular, which often faces fire-related lawsuits — could also lead to a downgrade, as the city ultimately carries the liability from its utilities.
“We could also lower the rating if additional debt issuance or heightened litigation or contagion risk associated with its utilities (i.e., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) materially weakens our view of the city’s debt and liability profile,” continued S&P.
However, should the city balance its budget and restore its reserves to its goal of 5%, S&P says that it could adjust the city’s credit rating outlook from negative to stable, which would pause the city’s credit rating slide.
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
Good the people deserve to suffer for voting for Democrats hahahahahahahahaha