well, it didn’t take long to find the information I wanted. How read this chart:
- find your state
- see if it’s red or blue (you probably know)
- check to see if the final column is a positive or negative number.
If it’s a negative number, you lose: you’re giving away more than your get, in California’s case, $58 billion. But if you’re in Alabama, say, you win: you collected $10 billion more than you contributed. And hey, look at Virginia with almost $22 billion in federal funds: you’d think one of the oldest states would have figured out how to generate a surplus by now.
|
States’ Balance of Payments with Washington, 2001
(dollars in millions) |
|||
|
Taxes Paid
|
Spending Received
|
Surplus/Deficit
|
|
| Alabama |
22,437
|
33,205
|
10,768
|
| Alaska |
4,200
|
6,685
|
2,485
|
| Arizona |
30,057
|
32,392
|
2,335
|
| Arkansas |
12,476
|
17,469
|
4,993
|
| California |
264,344
|
206,245
|
-58,099
|
| Colorado |
33,898
|
26,618
|
-7,280
|
| Connecticut |
36,416
|
25,351
|
-11,065
|
| Delaware |
5,750
|
4,632
|
-1,118
|
| Florida |
110,294
|
107,395
|
-2,899
|
| Georgia |
52,225
|
50,822
|
-1,403
|
| Hawaii |
6,903
|
10,185
|
3,282
|
| Idaho |
6,683
|
7,977
|
1,294
|
| Illinois |
96,686
|
71,520
|
-25,166
|
| Indiana |
36,733
|
34,630
|
-2,103
|
| Iowa |
16,725
|
18,523
|
1,798
|
| Kansas |
16,503
|
17,806
|
1,303
|
| Kentucky |
20,509
|
27,210
|
6,701
|
| Louisiana |
21,371
|
29,249
|
7,878
|
| Maine |
6,904
|
8,643
|
1,739
|
| Maryland |
41,779
|
50,966
|
9,187
|
| Massachusetts |
59,779
|
48,188
|
-11,591
|
| Michigan |
67,886
|
56,185
|
-11,701
|
| Minnesota |
36,519
|
27,384
|
-9,135
|
| Mississippi |
12,094
|
21,023
|
8,929
|
| Missouri |
33,718
|
41,452
|
7,734
|
| Montana |
4,359
|
6,910
|
2,551
|
| Nebraska |
10,415
|
11,469
|
1,054
|
| Nevada |
15,014
|
10,631
|
-4,383
|
| New Hampshire |
10,315
|
7,006
|
-3,309
|
| New Jersey |
75,115
|
51,657
|
-23,458
|
| New Mexico |
8,487
|
17,156
|
8,669
|
| New York |
166,554
|
126,990
|
-39,564
|
| North Carolina |
47,579
|
47,748
|
169
|
| North Dakota |
3,288
|
6,169
|
2,881
|
| Ohio |
69,127
|
66,341
|
-2,786
|
| Oklahoma |
16,667
|
23,790
|
7,123
|
| Oregon |
21,241
|
19,826
|
-1,415
|
| Pennsylvania |
83,052
|
84,880
|
1,828
|
| Rhode Island |
6,990
|
7,458
|
468
|
| South Carolina |
20,799
|
26,070
|
5,271
|
| South Dakota |
4,293
|
6,095
|
1,802
|
| Tennessee |
33,225
|
38,986
|
5,761
|
| Texas |
134,809
|
121,571
|
-13,238
|
| Utah |
11,358
|
12,139
|
781
|
| Vermont |
3,731
|
3,984
|
253
|
| Virginia |
52,858
|
74,802
|
21,944
|
| Washington |
49,651
|
40,233
|
-9,418
|
| West Virginia |
7,793
|
13,064
|
5,271
|
| Wisconsin |
34,609
|
28,966
|
-5,643
|
| Wyoming |
3,583
|
3,824
|
241
|
Unfair? Perhaps. The federal system is supposed to benefit everyone without quibbling about who generates a surplus or a deficit. But the divisions aren’t my invention: again, if people can speak for the president and his party and deprecate the ones who generate the tax revenues that subsidize their base without fear of correction, why should we put up with it?