The redistribution of federal taxes from state to state in the US.

Most people don’t understand that the federal government doesn’t really take taxes to put in a gilded room in DC to buy teak desks for Senators. Rather, much of the federal government’s operations are a pass through program, meaning taxes taken today are sent out to program beneficiaries today. Both Social Security and Medicare work this way, for example—and that’s over 40% of the US budget.

As it happens, it is usually the case that the citizens living in a state do not receive the same amount in total benefits and other federal spending as they contribute. The citizens of some states—the ones in various shades of green in this map—pay more in taxes than they receive. The ones in red receive more federal tax money than its citizens pay.

While the pattern is not perfect, a few things stand out here. First, many “conservative” states are in fact net tax recipients—e.g., they get more than they pay. Many such states have lots of poverty, farms, military bases and retired persons, and such persons and programs get lots of federal tax support.

Another thing that stands out here is that, in general, the “rich”—or net tax contributing—states are those with the United States’ major cities: NY, California, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, etc. (The latter two are exceptions to the “conservative = welfare states point I made above.)

So as an Illinoisan watching all those conservative states demand that the federal government stop abusing their citizens with all these taxes, I ask only one thing:

Can I have my money back?

azspot:

America’s fiscal union: The red and the black

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    There goes Puerto Rico defying the stereotype that most minorities are liberals.

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    CAN I HAVE MY MONEY BACK. You win.

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    This is a good post. A REALLY good post.

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    That’s an awful lot

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    Very good point.

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