Item — HN Reader

(I'm going to respond to your original comment, which I quote below.)

"Thanks the reason I was asking was that in that document I don't see data about which state voted for Clinton or Trump. But I can see that of the states which paid the least most seem to be "Red States". No? West Virginia Kentucky New Mexico Arkansas Idaho South Carolina Alabama Utah North Carolina Tennessee Georgia Maine Arizona Indiana Louisiana Ohio Oklahoma Missouri "

You are looking at the wrong list. The one on page 6 only shows per capita taxes paid to the federal government by residents of the states. The one on page 9 shows how much per capita the federal government transfers to states and to individual citizens. The one on page 5 combines the two.

Of the ten states at the top of the page 5 list—the ones that get the most back (after subtracting taxes paid) from the federal government—five voted for Trump (MS, AL, WV, KY, SC) and five vote for Hillary (NM, VA, ME, HI, MD).

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According to Associated Press:

"High-tax, traditionally Democratic states (blue), subsidize low-tax, traditionally Republican states (red) — in a big way."

https://apnews.com/article/2f83c72de1bd440d92cdbc0d3b6bc08c

The article is an example of malicious omission. The actual Rockefeller Institute data (https://rockinst.org/issue-areas/fiscal-analysis/balance-of-...) shows that it's not so much "blue states" but four very wealthy Northeast states (the Tri-State area plus Massachusetts) that account for the bulk of citizens paying more than they receive from the federal government. I can guarantee that this was exactly the same in 1920, when all four states (especially MA) were moderately to strongly Republican, because they were even wealthier compared to the rest of the country than today.

The 10 states at the bottom of the Rockefeller report's per capita list—that is, the states that benefit from the most federal spending per person compared to how much each person pays in federal taxes—are

Hillary-voting states: VA, NM, MD, HI, ME

Trump-voting states: KY, AK, AL, WV, MS

... which is exactly what I said, based on the State of New York report I cited.

"The biggest givers in our latest report, based on 2018 data, were New York, which paid in US$22 billion more than it received; New Jersey, which paid $12 billion more; Massachusetts, which paid $9 billion more; and Connecticut, which paid $8 billion more than it received."

So the 4 biggest payers in 2018 were New York, New Jersey, Massachusets and Connecticut. Aren't these all "blue states"?

The 4 biggest recipients are Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia. Aren't those all "red states"?

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2020-05-15/...

Actual numbers: https://rockinst.org/issue-areas/fiscal-analysis/balance-of-...

>So the 4 biggest payers in 2018 were New York, New Jersey, Massachusets and Connecticut. Aren't these all "blue states"?

Yes, but my point is that those states are subsidizing almost the rest of the country, no matter who those other states voted for.

>The 4 biggest recipients are Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia. Aren't those all "red states"?

No. Maryland is a very Democratic state, and Virginia is a swing state that has recently voted mostly Democratic, including for Hillary in 2016.

>Actual numbers: https://rockinst.org/issue-areas/fiscal-analysis/balance-of-...

Why are you linking this URL as if I needed to see it, as if I didn't cite it in my previous comment?