Business Insider article - Red States are "Welfare queens"

[DHelix]

This isn't a brand new article but it might be something that you haven't seen so it seemed worth sharing. In conversations with fiscally conservative centrists who are undecided and many Republican supporters there's always been this stigma that Democrats are moochers. Well, a Business Insider article from last year makes it clear that couldn't be further from the truth. This ties into the whole 47% thing as well.

Take a look at the difference between federal spending on any given state and the federal taxes received from that state. We measure the difference as a dollar amount: Federal Spending per Dollar of Federal Taxes. A figure of $1.00 means that particular state received as much as it paid in to the federal government. Anything over a dollar means the state received more than it paid; anything less than $1.00 means the state paid more in taxes than it received in services. The higher the figure, the more a given state is a welfare queen.

Of the twenty worst states, 16 are either Republican dominated or conservative states. Let's go through the top twenty.

New Mexico: $2.03
Mississippi: $2.02
Alaska: $1.84
Louisiana: $1.78
West Virginia: $1.76
North Dakota: $1.68
Alabama: $1.66
South Dakota: $1.53
Kentucky: $1.51
Virginia: $1.51
Montana: $1.47
Hawaii: $1.44
Maine: $1.41
Arkansas: $1.41
Oklahoma: $1.36
South Carolina: $1.35
Missouri: $1.32
Maryland: $1.30
Tennessee: $1.27
Idaho: $1.21


Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-18/politics/30039546_1_blue-states-federal-taxes-red-states#ixzz29HuJ08Fc

So, the next time you meet or are in discussions with people bout mooching or about how Democrats are moochers who just want to collect welfare remind them that the Blue states actually are the producers who contribute and that 16 of the 20 worst states for taking more than they contribute are Red. Of course, it's probably better to not point fingers at all but sometimes you've got to defend your point.

[ywcachieve]

1. Well we've known this for a long time.

[jsmirman]

3. Precisely - I was making charts on this in the run up to the 2004 election

[niyad]

2. k and r for this timely and handy reminder

[rucky]

4. So let's use this methodology to decide which cuts to make and even things out.

They want cuts, don't they?

[mary195149]

5. Here's an idea,

Ads should be run showing no affiliation with either party, saying It's time to vote for Romney so we can once and for all, get rid of these unnecessary Medicaid programs
that are costing our country so much money. That's all the people who are on assistance have to hear. Voting for their own best interest, and putting their racist and homophobia may just go on the back burner for now.

[Z_California]

6. This is a great idea

Using humor or extreme positions is an effective way to communicate a point to someone who would be resistant to said point.

A great way to beat the right wingers might be to put out advertisements spelling out exactly what they want to do (honestly) without the false spin. Vote for us to end Medicare and Medicaid. Vote for us to increase insurance company profits by throwing unprofitable sick people off of the insurance rolls. Vote for us to continue the 5 billion dollar subsidies to oil companies. Vote for us to say once and for all "global warming isn't real". Etc etc.

[unc70]

7. Daily Show did this during Repub convention

Discussing running government like a business. Had to shutdown some states. They just weren't carrying their share. Weren't profitable.

[SheilaT]

8. New Mexico is actually a pretty blue state.

One of the reason it gets so much federal money is that something like a quarter of the population is on Medicaid.

[oldhippydude]

10. also

it says federal spending...if that includes Sandia labs, Los Alamos, and White sands.. thats big chunk of change.. i'm one of those that argue expenses of the MIC are in fact a form of welfare..

[SheilaT]

11. Yeah, I was kind of thinking those places

might also count. I do know that wages, even for non-scientists, are quite high at Los Alamos. Probably the same at all the other places.

[oldhippydude]

12. it's a whole lot more than wages... lots of spin off and support

benefits the state universities, and the local economy in general...

[SheilaT]

13. Oh, how true.

Those people pump a LOT of money into the local economy. If it weren't for them, NM might well be the poorest state in the union.

[RebelOne]

9. My state of Georgia is mostly red.

I am surprised it is not on the list.