by Alex Henderson
The repugicans claim they've had it with American socialism. Maybe they should return the tax dollars subsidizing them
.
One of the most hilarious talking points coming from lunatic fringe repugicans and the teabaggers is that when "red states" like
Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are asked to bail out California or
Massachusetts, that's when they will finally become "fed up with
socialism" and secede from the Union once and for all.
The
problem with that meme is that it has no basis in reality: the more
prosperous and Democrat-leaning areas of the United States are likely to
be subsidizing dysfunctional "red states," many of which are suffering
from insufficient tax revenue and an abundance of low-wage workers who
don't have much to tax. The teabagger repugicans like to point out that
poor cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Camden, New Jersey are run by
Democrats, but they neglect to mention that some of the most affluent
parts of the United States-from Manhattan to the Silicon Valley and the
San Francisco Bay Area to Cambridge, MA to Seattle to Chicago's North
Shore suburbs-are dominated by the Democratic Party. People in those
heavily Democratic areas pay a lot of federal income taxes, and quite
often, their tax dollars go to red states.
Earlier this year,
the personal finance website WalletHub.com conducted an in-depth study
of the amounts individual states are paying in federal taxes compared to
the amounts they are receiving. WalletHub analyzed data from the
Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Commerce
Department and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. WalletHub's research
demonstrates that, as a rule, the states that are the most likely to
rail against "big government" are the most likely to be benefiting from
it.
A few of the states in WalletHub's study that were receiving
the most tax revenue from the federal government are states that
President Barack Obama won in 2012 (most notably, New Mexico and
Hawaii), but most were hardcore "red states." And most of the states
that, according to WalletHub, are taking less from the federal
government than they are paying in are "blue states" that Obama won in
both 2008 and 2012, including California, Massachusetts, Delaware,
Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Minnesota. WalletHub's research bears
out comparable figures released by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in
the past: analyzing IRS data, Tax Foundation has found, more than once,
that red states are likely to be the biggest recipients of federal tax
money.
Below are 10 red states that take full
advantage of the federal government and would be much worse off without
the "coastal liberal elites" they love to complain about.
1.
Mississippi: Mississippi is one of the most repugican states in the
U.S.: repugicans dominate the state government, and not since Jimmy
Carter's victory in 1976 has a Democrat carried Mississippi in a
presidential race. "Fiscal responsibility" is a recurring theme in
Mississippi politics, where Democrats are often characterized as people
who couldn't balance a budget if their lives depended on it. Yet the
reality is that Mississippi is one of the most blatant examples of a
state receiving more federal tax money than it gives: WalletHub finds
that for every dollar in federal taxes Mississippi pays, it receives
$3.07 from the federal government. A 2007 report from the Tax Foundation
found that Mississippi was receiving $2.47 from the federal government
for every dollar it was paying in.
The fact that Mississippi has
a hard time making ends meet without help from Washington, DC stems
from being a so-called "right to work" state, meaning it has a very low
rate of unionization and plenty of low-wage jobs. Mississippi is one of
the poorest states in the country, and repugican policies in that
state-hostility to unions, opposition to raising the minimum wage at
either the federal or state level, tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of
Americans-will likely keep Mississippi from being a substantial
contributor to federal income taxes.
2.
Alaska: Alaska didn't
become part of the U.S. until 1959, and since then, it has gone repugican in every presidential race except 1964 (when Alaska favored
Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over repugican Barry Goldwater). A bastion
of lunatic fringe politics, Alaska is the state where Sarah Palin was
elected governor in 2006. But when it comes to "small government,"
Alaska repugicans don't practice what they preach: according to
WalletHub, Alaska receives $1.42 from the federal government for every
dollar it contributes. Tax Foundation's research showed Alaska receiving
$1.93 from Uncle Sam for every dollar paid in. Alaska repugicans love
to rail against the federal government, but the reality is that Alaska
needs federal tax revenue badly in order to function.
Alaska is
infamous for its harsh winters, which put considerable wear and tear on
the state's infrastructure-and the money for that much upkeep and
maintenance has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is Boston, Santa
Monica, Brooklyn, Seattle and all the other places that are full of
upscale Democrats Palin considers "un-American."
3. Alabama:
Like Mississippi, Alabama is a state that hasn't given a Democratic
presidential candidate its electoral votes since 1976. Alabama is one of
the most repugican-dominated states in the U.S., and it is also a
state that is very reliant on the federal government. According to
Wallet Hub's study, Alabama receives 37% of its revenue from the federal
government and receives $3.28 for every dollar it pays in federal
taxes. Tax Foundation's data showed Alabama receiving $2.03 in federal
tax money for every dollar it was paying in.
There are ways in
which Alabama could become less reliant on Washington, DC: raising the
minimum wage and having a more unionized workforce would generate more
income tax revenue. So would raising income taxes on Alabama's 1%. But
Alabama is a so-called "right to work" state, and a workforce that is
generally underpaid and overworked isn't going to generate a lot of
federal income tax revenue.
4. Louisiana: In repugican-dominated Louisiana politics, it is fashionable to bash "big
government liberals" who live in San Francisco or New York City. But
when Louisiana repugicans do that, they are biting the hands that feed
them. According to Wallet Hub's research, Louisiana receives $3.35 from
the federal government for every dollar it pays in; 44% of Louisiana's
funding, WalletHub says, comes from Washington, DC.
Louisiana,
under repugican Gov. Bobby Jindal, is another "right-to-work" state,
and a state with so many underpaid workers is naturally going to have a
lot less income to tax. So instead of hating the "limousine liberals" in
Seattle or Boston for voting Democrat, Louisiana repugicans should
thank them for all the federal income tax revenue they are getting from
them.
5. Indiana: When Barack Obama won Indiana's electoral
votes in 2008, it was an anomaly: Indiana, which went repugican in
every presidential election from 1968-2004, is one of the most wingnut states in the Midwest and is much more repugican than
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois or Michigan. Pundits have often said that
when it comes to politics, Indiana is "more southern than the South."
But the disdain that Indiana repugicans often express for "big
government" rings false because according to Wallet Hub, Indiana
receives $2.01 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar
it contributes and receives 33% of its funding from Uncle Sam. Indiana repugicans can hate coastal Democrats all they want, but without the
federal tax revenue Democratic areas generate, Indiana would have a hard
time functioning.
6. Montana: Montana has a long history of
going repugican in presidential elections. Between 1952 and 2012,
Montana went repugican in every presidential race except 1964 and 1992.
But for a state that is so conservative-leaning, Montana receives a lot
of help from the federal government: WalletHub's research shows that
Montana receives $1.55 from the federal government for every dollar it
contributes (the Tax Foundation's 2007 report found that Montana's
intake from Uncle Sam was $1.92 for every dollar paid). Montana faces
the same challenge as Alaska-long, harsh winters that can put
considerable stress on its infrastructure-and the idea that Montana
could function without tax revenue is pure fantasy.
7. South
Carolina: The fact that South Carolina hasn't gone Democrat in a
presidential election since 1976 is a badge of honor to the state's repugican cabal.
And repugican Gov. Nikki Haley once boasted, "I love that we are one
of the least unionized states in the country." But that is nothing to be
proud of, especially in light of the fact that non-union workers tend
to have lower wages and therefore, contribute less tax revenue. The Tax
Foundation found that South Carolina was receiving $1.92 from the
federal government for every federal tax dollar it was contributing.
Haley
doesn't think much of liberals, but considering that Delaware,
Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota and New York State-all of which Obama
won in both 2008 and 2012-are giving more tax dollars to the federal
government than they are receiving, she might want to reconsider and
start thanking them for their help.
8. West Virginia: Although
West Virginia presently has a Democratic governor (Earl Ray Tomblin) and
has a Democratic majority in its state senate (most of them
center-right Blue Dogs), it is still a wingnut-leaning state with a
strong repugican influence. The repugicans have carried West Virginia in
the last four presidential elections (Mitt Romney won 62% of West
Virginia's vote in 2012), but that doesn't mean that the state doesn't
receive a lot of help from the federal government: WalletHub described
West Virginia as a state that receives $2.22 in federal tax revenue for
every dollar it pays, and the Tax Foundation's figure in its 2007 study
was $2.57 received per dollar paid.
Poverty has a lot to do with
that: West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country, with
17.6% of its population living in poverty from 2008-2012 compared to
14.9% nationwide (according to the U.S. Census Bureau). And with so many
West Virginians living in poverty, they simply aren't going to be a
major source of income tax revenue.
9. Tennessee: One of the
ludicrous talking points from repugicans is that the poor aren't paying
enough taxes. Actually, the poor do pay a lot of taxes, from sales
taxes to taxes on utilities. But according to repugicans, the poor are
freeloaders because they aren't paying enough federal income taxes-and
one way to balance state budgets, they cluelessly argue, is to cut state
services and raise state taxes on the poor. The repugicans flunk math,
however, because someone making $7.25 an hour is going to have a lot
less to tax than someone making $30 or $40 an hour. And therein lies the
budgetary problem for a so-called "right-to-work" state like Tennessee:
too many of its residents are working low-paying, non-union service
jobs that generate a lot less sales and other state tax revenue than the
unionized jobs repugicans are so bitterly opposed to. Tennessee,
according to WalletHub, receives $1.64 from the federal government for
every federal tax dollar it contributes-and WalletHub notes that 41% of
Tennessee's funding comes from Uncle Sam.
10. Kentucky:
Kentucky, despite having a two-term Democratic governor (Steve Beshear),
leans repugican: although Bill Clinton won Kentucky's electoral votes
in 1992 and 1996, that state has gone repugican in every other
presidential race since 1980. Mitt Romney carried Kentucky by 22% in
2012, and many of the Democrats who hold office in the Bluegrass State
are center-right Blue Dogs. But as widespread as talk of "small
government" and "fiscal responsibility" are in Kentucky, WalletHub's
research shows that Kentucky receives $2.39 from the federal government
for every dollar it pays. According to WalletHub, 35% of Kentucky's
revenue comes from Washington, DC. And the Tax Foundation found that
Kentucky was receiving $1.75 from the federal government for every
dollar paid.
