Virginia is one of five states that could lose its AAA bond rating thanks to the to the politcal theatrics of Rep. Eric Cantor and his refusal to raise the debt ceiling without draconian cuts. On July 13, Moody's announced that it would assess the ratings of AAA-rated states according to how national default would affect their abilitiy to pay their debts. Due to Virgnia's high level of government workers and contracts, the state would be one of the worst hit by national default. It looks like we might need that Marshall money after all.

See the full story at Blue Virginia and an excerpt after the jump:

Specifically, with regard to Virginia, Moody's cites several factors, including two "above averages" that really jump out at you: 1) "Federal procurement contracts as a percentage of state gross domestic product;" and 2) "Federal employees as a percentage of the state's total employment." The reason these two particularly jump out is that they totally belie what we hear so frequently from Virginia Republican'ts like Bob McDonnell, who attribute all good things in Virginia to the Holy Private Sector, and all bad things to the Evil Government, while of course totally ignoring the gigantic elephant in the room  — that Virginia is heavily, extensively, whatever other adverb you want to use, reliant on the Federal government for its prosperity. Take away the Pentagon, federal workers, federal contractors, the military-industrial complex, etc., and what would Virginia be? West Virginia, maybe? Of course, you'll NEVER hear that from right-wing ideologues like Bob McDonnell and Eric Can'tor, but facts are stubborn things…