Posted 10/03/2004 03:04:00 PM by Douglas

Interesting site that shows how much federal tax money each state receives for each dollar they pay. What's interesting is that 16 states get back less money than they give, but 32 get more than they pay, with only two states, Florida and Oregon, breaking even. I'm sure that after four hurricanes this year, Florida is going to be on the other column next year.

The first and obvious question is: where is all that money coming from?

But of course, someone is going to look at this data and determine that it's all part of Bush's master plan to buy votes.

The report shows that of the 32 states (and the District of Columbia) that are "winners" -- receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes -- 76% are Red States that voted for George Bush in 2000. Indeed, 17 of the 20 (85%) states receiving the most federal spending per dollar of federal taxes paid are Red States. Here are the Top 10 states that feed at the federal trough (with Red States highlighted in bold):

1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)

Ok, that's all good, but look at the number of electoral votes these states get. Not exactly the power-house electorate that would justify political pandering.

1. D.C. 3
2. North Dakota 3
3. New Mexico 5
4. Mississippi 6
5. Alaska 3
6. West Virginia 5
7. Montana 3
8. Alabama 9
9. South Dakota 3
10. Arkansas 6

And now, for completely no reason, here is the list of the ten states with the most electoral votes, and Republican states (in 2000) are in bold.

1. California $0.81 55
2. Texas $0.92 34
3. New York $0.81 31
4. Florida $1.00 27
5. Illinois $0.77 21
6. Pennsylvania $1.08 21
7. Ohio $1.02 20
8. Michigan $0.90 17
9. Georgia $1.01 15
10. New Jersey $0.62 15

Interesting that only six of the ten biggest states lose tax money, yet only four of them went to the Republicans in 2000.

So if the Republicans are using federal money to buy votes, they're doing a really bad job of buying the ones that count.