Some states are in as bad a financial shape as the U.S. Govt !

As we inch closer to the precipice of government financial crisis--at all levels--small hints that something's wrong manage to leak through the media blackout.

For example, Illinois is so financially mismanaged that State Troopers can't use their state-issued credit cards to fill up their tanks -- gas stations won't accept them, as they know the state is simply not good for its debts.

Ah, you say, I don't live in Illinois so why should this interest me? Because, young grasshopper, if IL formally declares bankruptcy, do you think Obama will simply let it sink--and thus cause hundreds of thousands of members of government employees unions to go hungry? Of course not. Instead he would have the federal government--that would be us taxpayers--make good on the state's debts.

And of course once this precedent has been established the floodgates will open: Next up, the far larger California. Which should be enough to turn U.S. government bonds to junk status.

Watch for little snippets like the vignette above to emerge with increasing frequency in the coming months.