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Saw this on another wedsite and thought I'd share.
For all the crap about small govt, self-sufficiency welfare cheats and other right wing delusions, the fact is that the red states are Easy Riders living off of the Blue states. And they have less concern for their citizens, worse social behavior etc. In other words, in good old psychology terms they Bush states are what they blame the blue states for being. Here is one example. Others will follow
The Tax Foundation - Tax Research Areas > Federal Taxes Paid vs. Spending Received by State (http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxingspending.html - broken link)
(see the site for tables as they did not copy well.)
October 7, 2004
Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Paying Bill
New Mexico gets $1.99 for every dollar in taxes, New Jersey only 57 cents
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Some states feast at the expense of others, according to the Tax Foundation’s latest annual analysis of federal taxing and spending patterns.
All taxpayers know that the federal government uses tax and spending policy to redistribute income from citizens with high incomes to those who make little, but citizens are less aware about geographically based income redistribution. Tax Foundation Senior Economist Scott Moody compares the federal tax burden in each state with Census Bureau data (2003) on federal spending in each state. The result is a ranking of which states got the best deal in 2003 from Uncle Sam’s tax and spending policies.
Federally Favored States
“During fiscal 2003, taxpayers in New Mexico benefited the most from the give-and-take with Uncle Sam,” said Moody. New Mexico received $1.99 in federal outlays for every $1.00 the state’s taxpayers sent to Uncle Sam. Other big winners were Alaska ($1.89), Mississippi ($1.83), and West Virginia ($1.82). (See tables below).
States That Help Others
If some states are beneficiaries, then naturally some must be benefactors—those states where so much is collected in federal taxes that any federal spending they receive is overwhelmed.....
Combining the third highest tax burden per capita with the ninth lowest federal spending, New Jersey had the lowest federal spending-to-tax ratio (57¢). Other states that had low federal spending-to-tax ratios in FY 2003 are New Hampshire (64¢), Connecticut (65¢), Minnesota (70¢), Nevada (70¢), and Illinois (73¢).
Changing Ranks
The state that raised its ratio the most over the past ten years is Alaska where federal spending rose from $1.30 to $1.89 for each dollar in taxes. This 59-cent increase beats out Alabama, where federal spending increased 35¢ per dollar of tax, West Virginia (33¢ more spending per dollar), and Kentucky (32¢ more spending per dollar).
States where the ratio dropped most are Colorado and Massachusetts. Colorado has seen its federal spending-to-tax ratio fall 20¢ from $1.00 in FY 1994 to 80¢ in FY 2003. Massachusetts’s has dropped 18¢.
What Affects Rankings?
Federal spending on defense and other procurement dollars are often funneled to the states of powerful Members of Congress, and state governments can grab more federal grant money by skillfully manipulating their spending to comply with federal regulations.
However, demography may be more influential than politics. States with more residents on Social Security, Medicare and other large federal entitlements are bound to rank fairly high. Similarly, the high spending levels in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia are explained by the predominance of federal employees.
On the tax side of the equation, states with higher incomes per capita—New Jersey stands out—pay much higher federal taxes per capita because of the income tax’s progressive structure. The citizens in these high-income, high-tax states do not always live better or save more than people in low-income, low-tax states because the cost of living is usually that much higher or more. __________________
"The moral of this story is not the danger for Obama going forward with his Gitmo decommissioning, the moral is that when venal, shallow, small men are given unfettered power and authority, they do incompetent, stupid, and evil things."
John Cole
The funny thing was reading Republicans argue:
OK blue states generate more revenue - but not because of the blue districts in them, which are all Ebil Dirty Cities full of Poors, but the rich red suburbs, Orange County, etc.
2. Blue states pay out the most per capita on "wasteful" / "social" spending (the two are, naturally, interchangeable) because of aforesaid Dirty Ebil Cities and their Poors.
3. Red states get more money per capita overall, fair enough! But it's only to maintain our highways and essential military bases and new weapon programs! No pork for us.
All this tells us is that the most populated states pay in the most, and the least populated states pay in the least. Not really a surprise, the more people you have, the more you collect in taxes...
Then you didn't look at the numbers. It shows taxes paid vs government largess paid back. What that means is the Republicans states are generally welfare cases sucking up tax dollars. Now, I understand that places like Mississippi need a helping hand and I don't mind chipping in but I do get tired of their sense of entitlement plus I can do without them trying to tell the rest of us how to run everything seeings how we seem to be doing better then they are.
And speaking for the Reddest state of the all Oklahoma....poor rural whites are on welfare and hardly anybody in the State makes any money. Big Ranchers can show losses on their businesses very easily. You have some in the oil and gas industry that make big money...that's about it.
Also Farmers are big reciepients of federal money.
In the case of Alaska most of the federal money is going to the military up there, so while it looks like they're getting a lot of federal money, in reality, a large portion of that federal money is going from the federal government to the federal government.
All this tells us is that the most populated states pay in the most, and the least populated states pay in the least. Not really a surprise, the more people you have, the more you collect in taxes...
Here are some statistics for you. Looking up some figures on the number of welfare recipients per state, it seems that blue states have a significantly higher number of welfare recipients per capita than red states. Example Texas (pop. 24 million ) has 20,733 on welfare for adults and 160,800 total. NY (pop. 18 million) has 70,000 adults and 307,000 total.
According to your statistics, the red states recieve more than they put in and blue give away more than they put in correct? It seems obvious that the red states don't need your welfare dollars. The residents would much rather work for a living than recieve a handout. The blue states keep on throwing money at the state probably hoping to get votes in the long run
Here are some statistics for you. Looking up some figures on the number of welfare recipients per state, it seems that blue states have a significantly higher number of welfare recipients per capita than red states. Example Texas (pop. 24 million ) has 20,733 on welfare for adults and 160,800 total. NY (pop. 18 million) has 70,000 adults and 307,000 total.
According to your statistics, the red states recieve more than they put in and blue give away more than they put in correct? It seems obvious that the red states don't need your welfare dollars. The residents would much rather work for a living than recieve a handout. The blue states keep on throwing money at the state probably hoping to get votes in the long run
Careful now pride and envy are not admirable traits
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