Southern States Receive More Tax Dollars Than They Pay Out. Then...

[Yavin4]

They use their subsidies to attract foreign businesses to set up plants in their states.

I say cut the bastards off from federal subsidies, and then see how much tax dollars they can give to foreign businesses.

[David Dunham]

1. Much of the federal money they get goes to help poor blacks and whites there

We should not have a blanket cutoff of federal aid to southern states

[patrice]

4. I think people are referring only to money that makes it possible to offer powerful TIF-type

deals to foreign corporations who compete with American products.

[csziggy]

6. And if Southern states would attract businesses that paid a living wage

So much aid would not be needed for the poor. Instead, our idiot politicians subsidize industries and businesses that keep people at borderline poverty. And I say this as a Southerner.

[Yavin4]

28. Exactly

They keep their people living below the poverty line because they use their surplus federal dollars to subsidize businesses in their states.

[patrice]

2. I'll second that motion and third and fourth it, if that would help! nt

[specimenfred1984]

3. Exactly, I've been saying it for years

The Southern (R)s always complain about "welfare moms" etc...so cut the South off, completely. No more federal welfare for the South and let's see what happens. No more Social Security, agriculture money, Medicare, etc, let the South live without the government they profess to hate so much.

[blondeatlast]

18. Cut out the heart (the people) to spite the face--that's a new one.

I'm truly sorry I read your post.

[OwnedByFerrets]

23. Are you REALLY so STUPID that you think that ONLY

(R)s live in the South????? Really????

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. I fucking HATE ignorant post like this.

[QC]

8. Unfortunately, this is what now passes for intelligent, incisive commentary

around here.

Hard to believe there was ever a time when DU was one of the smartest political sites on the net.

[onehandle]

9. That was truly a long time ago.

Sad, really.

[QC]

22. Actually, it wasn't that long ago. It seems like an eternity, though. n/t

[WI_DEM]

26. It was?

[QC]

31. The signal to noise ratio used to be a lot more favorable.

People posted so many links to great news items from all over the world that you could really get a fine education just by hanging out here.

Now the place reminds me more of a junior high school playground: lots of bullies everywhere and most conversations have to do with who's cute and who's icky.

[roguevalley]

11. sort of reminds me of the stuff thrown at Alaska. Some of it was

deserved but some not. Probably the same now but anger makes the need for balance moot in many cases.

[Medusa]

14. Need for balance?

In these parts? Not going to happen sorry to say. Simplistic thinking is very en vogue here.

[varkam]

17. It's all teh Soufs faultz!!1!

It's getting old.

[Yavin4]

20. What's So Ignorant About The Truth?

Southern states get more federal tax monies than any other states, and then they use their conservative political power to cut off aid to other states.

Always play nice liberals like yourself is the reason why we got stuck with conservatives for the past 30 years.

If you cannot handle the truth or real politics, take up knitting.

[OwnedByFerrets]

21. I'm not a fucking "play nice" Librul.....

but clumping ALL southern peoples into one homogeneous group is Fucking Ignorant. There are millions of wonderful hard working tax paying DEMOCRATS in the south. And you would punish us all because of some fucking asshole senators. The same asshole senators could be "put in their place" if our democratic "leaders" had any guts or will to do so. THEY DON'T. So don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. And, btw, fuck YOU for your condescending post.:evilgrin:

[Yavin4]

27. Well, Fuck You Back

Sure, there are some Liberal Dems in the South, but they aint nearly the majority. The South is the Republicans' political power base, and SOUTHERN REPUBLICANS PREVENT US FROM PROGRESSING ON MAJOR ISSUES LIKE A NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

MEANWHILE, SOUTHERN STATES NURSE AT THE TEAT OF THE FEDERAL GOVT, NOTABLY THROUGH AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES TO CORPORATE FARMS.

THUS, FOR PEOPLE IN INFORMATION TECH, MFG, AUTOS, ETC. WE HAVE TO FACE GLOBAL COMPETITION, WHILST SOUTHERNERS GET SUBSIDIZED AGAINST FOREIGN COMPETITION.

IN THE END, WE GET A SHITLOAD OF REPUBLICAN SENATORS WHO ARE THE MOST REGRESSIVE POLS IN AMERICA.

SO, AS I SAID, CUT THE FUCKING SOUTH OFF FROM FEDERAL LARGESS.

[Swamp Rat]

7. So, will you send us money to rebuild our levees in New Orleans and Gulf Coast wetlands?

We don't have the money, the levees are not fixed (they are worse than before Katrina), and most of us cannot afford to move somewhere else even if we wanted to.

[RB TexLa]

19. Please don't get disappointed by thinking Obama is going to care anymore than Bush did about

Louisiana. Americans do not care about us, they never have and they never will.

All you have to look at is the fact that Wyoming and Idaho each collect more state severance tax on oil and gas than Louisiana does. The federal government of course, collects plenty from oil and gas that belongs to Louisiana. When we ask to be able to have the same formula used for our oil and gas so we can collect the taxes instead of the federal government we are told "you're trying to STEAL from the US treasury!"

I remember once in the the 80's we almost had the votes an asshole senator said we'd be creating a mini OPEC with "Sheik Edwin Edwards" running it and how bad that would be for America.

[gratuitous]

10. The latest numbers I could find were from 2005

From this chart here:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/fedspend_per_taxesbystate-20071009.pdf

State
Federal Spending per
Rank / State / Federal Spending per Dollar of Federal Taxes
01. New Mexico $2.03
02. Mississippi $2.02
03. Alaska $1.84
04. Louisiana $1.78
05. West Virginia $1.76
06. North Dakota $1.68
07. Alabama $1.66
08. South Dakota $1.53
09. Kentucky $1.51
10. Virginia $1.51
11. Montana $1.47
12. Hawaii $1.44
13. Maine $1.41
14. Arkansas $1.41
15. Oklahoma $1.36
16. South Carolina $1.35
17. Missouri $1.32
18. Maryland $1.30
19. Tennessee $1.27
20. Idaho $1.21
21. Arizona $1.19
22. Kansas $1.12
23. Wyoming $1.11
24. Iowa $1.10 24
25. Nebraska $1.10
26. Vermont $1.08
27. North Carolina $1.08
28. Pennsylvania $1.07
29. Utah $1.07
30. Indiana $1.05
31. Ohio $1.05
32. Georgia $1.01
33. Rhode Island $1.00
34. Florida $0.97
35. Texas $0.94
36. Oregon $0.93
37. Michigan $0.92
38. Washington $0.88
39. Wisconsin $0.86
40. Massachusetts $0.82
41. Colorado $0.81
42. New York $0.79
43. California $0.78
44. Delaware $0.77
45. Illinois $0.75
46. Minnesota $0.72
47. New Hampshire $0.71
48. Connecticut $0.69
49. Nevada $0.65
50. New Jersey $0.61

District of Columbia $5.55 na

It appears that Texas and Florida are the only net donors among the Southern states. And some major beneficiaries of federal largesse are home to Senators who are eager to undercut the ability of other states to contribute to the federal coffers. Now, is it fair to paint the entire population of these states with the actions of their senators? Probably not. But the senators from those states don't seem to have that problem.

[kenfrequed]

32. My beloved and usually liberal Minnesota.

We are at $0.72 for every dollar we ship to the feds.

How about a: "Thank You and Merry Christmas" to us liberals here for helping prop up the conservative states.

[tabbycat31]

33. no wonder NJ has so many financial problems

they're at the bottom of the list.

[unc70]

34. Lower tax revenue exagerates your data

The disparity among the states is with the amont of Federal taxes collected per capita, the denominator in this ration. When the data is presented in this fashion, it greatly distorts what is actually happening.

In addition, spending per capita in these same states from programs that address the needs of the poor will be higher because a higher percentage of their residents qualify for these programs. Additional factors involve the location of major military bases and ports, amount of coastline, percent rural vs urban, age of population, etc. Of course, political factors favor more pork flowing to the districts of the powerful.

It is also very difficult to track where the money actual goes. If a federal contract is granted to a company in one state but most of the actual work is performed in other states, how does it get counted.

Another big danger is found in the footnotes about various programs being excluded, often without saying which ones or why.

BTW before 1860, the overwhelming majority of the Federal revenue was derived from the South and spent in other regions, often to deal with issues related to their growing immigrant populations (and resulting domination of the House of Reps).

When you look at a variety of sources for state-by-state analyses, you see their respective biases and various things that makes one curious what is going on (say with Montana).

[gratuitous]

35. It's not "my" data

If you have more accurate or more recent numbers, by all means post them. I'm suspicious about Texas and Florida being net donors to the federal coffers, but it appears that many Southern states take in more money from the federal government than they send in. As for the needs of the poor, I think that makes the precise point that the original poster was trying to make: Low wages paid in certain areas of the country are directly subsidized by higher wage workers in other parts of the country. When Alabama (for instance) pays workers so little that they qualify for food stamps or other federal assistance, that shortfall is made up by the taxes from workers in other states with better wages, like those kingly Michigan autoworkers. As a result the low-wage employers are the beneficiaries of welfare in a way that's rarely mentioned, and practically never discussed.

[Donnachaidh]

12. please don't mess with S-chip!

Some really desperate parents with disabled kids NEED the Federal funds! Sonny Perdue tried to kill PeachCare, and it was only saved with federal funding.

[Laelth]

13. I think Georgia is a net loser.

Alabama is a net gainer, though. I will give you that.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[varkam]

15. Yeah! Because it's not like there's people living in those states or anything. Oh, wait.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. yay! another ingnorant fucking post about the N v S lovefest here on DU!

[Phentex]

24. Yes! Let's start our own drinking game...

a shot for every "south" bashing thread. We'll be drunk by lunch!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

25. hey...that sounds good...

i think we should have to drink Southern Comfort or something the like to make it more 'appropriate'

sP

[riqster]

29. Naaaah, go with a Border State product

Jack Daniel's, from Tennessee. Let's bridge that NvS gap! *hic*

[supernova]

30. Burbon is much better

:D

This is a game I could go for. ;-)

[ProdigalJunkMail]

36. i have a vote for

Kentucky Bourbon or Tennessee Sour Mash whiskey...I say we open a bottle of each and just get wasted...with the game in mind I would say it would be a breeze!

Here's to ya!

sP

[Phentex]

37. Fine. It's mint juleps for everyone!

:toast: