Taxes: Who Gives, Who Takes?
The New York Times [reg. req.] has an interesting article about which states are “givers” (a.k.a. losers)and which are “takers” (a.k.a. winners) in the the wildly popular, shell game called taxation:
Republicans seem to have become the new welfare party — their constituents live off tax dollars paid by people who vote Democratic. Of course, not all federal spending is wasteful. But Republicans are having their pork and eating it too. Voters in red states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are some of the country’s fiercest critics of government, yet they’re also among the biggest recipients of federal largess. Meanwhile, Democratic voters in the coastal blue states — the ones who are often portrayed as shiftless moochers — are left to carry the load.
The Tax Foundation site has a summary of their study. I’ve known for a long time that residents of Washington, DC and the surrounding suburbs were living off the labor of all Americans, but have never seen an actual figure.
Though not comparable as a state, the District of Columbia is by far the biggest beneficiary of federal spending: In 2002 it received $6.44 in federal outlays for every dollar its taxpayers sent to the U.S. Treasury. The District’s share of federal largesse amounted to $58,347 for every man, woman and child. That is more than nine times the national average, and it includes over $8,000 per person in grants, over $19,000 per person in procurement, and over $24,000 per person in federal wages. These funds are rarely mentioned by District lawmakers in their assertions that being the site of the federal government is a major financial burden.
No wonder the White House looks like Tara.
The complete report, Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures By State (PDF) includes maps and tables.
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