It’s been true for a while that the US Treasury does not have AAA rated debt. It’s a notch below at AA+. You might think nothing can be safer than US gov debt, but some super safe companies like Microsoft and J&J have AAA rated debt. This is because of massive cash cushion and dominant market position in the case of MS and fantastically diversified and stable cash flow in the case of J&J (plus running a tight ship – fiscally speaking).

But among government bonds, the US Treasury bonds have to be the top rated, right? Not so either. Some municipal bonds also have really good ratings because they are connected to utilities, water, sewer systems and explicitly connected to utility bills.

Some states, have GO (general obligation) bonds that are AAA rated because of how well these states balance budgents (sometimes, by statute) or don’t have large deficits. These include

North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Delaware and Minnesota.

Note that while Utah and Florida are now considered “safe” by Republicans, the other states have passed the governor’s mansion back and forth between parties. So, neither party has a special claim on the path to AAA rating. This is my PSA that good economic discipline is something that every ideology can take on and both parties have delivered on it.