Red State Socialists

This isn't news to me, but it might be to some, so once again I'm borrowing shamelessly. (click here for full size)So the point is that for all the Republican whining about income taxes, most Republican states get back more in Federal Revenue than they paid in. In other words, they're not even covering their share. Anyone want to explain how this is not redistribution of wealth? Ya know, there's a reason those guys chose red as their color. Commies, every one.

As an aside, I was actually sort of surprised to see that Oregon pays in more than we get back. As I tried to reason it out, I figured road costs were high for our state, but we don't have much in the way of high-cost military operations here. The Umatilla Munitions depot (where our national stockpile of gas/nerve weapons is slowly being destroyed (with a good safety record, thanks), and there's an army base (I think) on the north coast, but the name escapes me. Still, we're a big, low population, western state which generally tends to push Federal spending up.

I guess one other tidbit caught my attention: note Alaska is at #3, and Arizona is at #21, with $1.84 and $1.19, respectively, paid out for each dollar paid in to the government. Delaware is at #44, and Illinois at #45, with a $0.77 and $0.75 return on the dollar, respectively. Hmmm...

Hat tip to Driftglass for the great graphic on this post, and here's the front page. Note the tax data is based on 2005 figures, and the red/blue assignment is based on the 2004 presidential vote.