Red State / Blue State - The odd case of biting the hand that feeds you

I have previously alluded to the curious fact that Republicans, who are seeking to cut government spending get their greatest support in States who actually receive more money back from the Federal Government than they pay in taxes, while the Democrats who defend government spending generally represent the states that pay more than the get back.

A September 11 opinion piece by Robert Reich broke it down into detail, using statistics from the Tax Foundation. Mr. Reich did not specify which figures from the Tax Foundation he used but it appears he used the figures from 2005, the most recent data they have (see link to the study itself below).

Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana, Alaska and Mississippi all get more than $1.50 back from the Government for every dollar they pay in taxes.  The top beneficiary is Mississippi at $2.02 back for every dollar of taxes spent, followed closely by Alaska at $1.84 back per $1 paid.  Pretty good return on investment I would say.

Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Kansas all get back between $1.10 and $1.50 per $1 paid.

The Red State exception is Texas who get only $.94 back for every dollar paid.

The largest Blue States on the other hand, are footing most of the bill.   Californians get back 78 cents for every $1 paid.  New York 79 cents, Massachusetts 82 cents and Oregon 92 cents.

Here is the link to the actual compiled data by State for the period from 1961 to 2005 (they say they are compiling more current data)  http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html