Red State Ripoff?
Our red state makes great noise about getting the federal government off our back and out of our wallet. It turns out that red states depend on blue states for out of balance support from the feds.
With the election, thankfully, behind us, I suppose we'd all like a break from 'red state, blue state.' But here is a different take:
The Washington Post has a great graphic that demonstrates which states get more than a dollar back for each dollar paid in taxes and which states get less than a dollar back for each dollar paid in taxes.
For all the election rhetoric, you'd expect that Idaho was getting the big squeeze, bleeding our citizens for the benefit of free-spending liberals on the coasts. Not so fast.
It turns out that Idaho--in fact, it turns out that most "red" states--get the best deal, more than a buck for each paid in taxes. The info used in the Washington Post column comes from Fourth Branch.
After looking at the red/blue map of which states get the best tax deal, then you can look at the 2008 election map. It's crazy close.
As Fourth Branch comments: "In essence, those in blue states are subsidizing those in red states. Both red and blue states appear to be acting politically in opposition to their economic interests. Blue states are voting for candidates who are likely to continue the policies of red state subsidization while red states are voting for candidates who profess a desire to reduce federal spending (and presumably red state subsidization)."
Yes, however