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by KerrAvon 1486 days ago
That would be great, considering California subsidizes most of the rest of the country.
3 comments

Ah, the ole "we have more wealthy people than you" argument.
What do you mean by "subsidize"? Are you referring to the general progressiveness of the US Federal tax code, or are you insinuating that Oklahoma's state budget is X% funded by California in addition to Oklahoman tax receipts?
Pretty sure it's the progressive tax code and the fact that California is (1) huge and (2) disproportionately wealthy.

I'm sure that wealthy Americans flock to California for the moral superiority of the average Californian and not, say, the weather. /s

Not the person you replied to, but there’s this concept of donor states that ranks the balance of payments.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/donor-state...

So in other words, states with lots of high earners disproportionately fund welfare and social security.

I don't see what's wrong with that. Does the parent comment not like progressive taxation, or do they not like welfare?

That is not even close to "in other words".
Can you explain what "subsidize" means then? Because that's pretty clearly what it reads like to me.
>That would be great, considering California subsidizes most of the rest of the country.

You and subiculumcode are wrong.

First, the state of California does not pay a cent to another state or to the federal government. It is residents of California that pay federal taxes, which in turn provide funding and services to states and individuals.

Second, the Rockefeller Institute (<https://rockinst.org/issue-areas/fiscal-analysis/balance-of-...>) shows that, as of 2018 (the last time I checked this data; I see that 2019 is now available), the 10 states at the bottom of the 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

2016/2020 Hillary/Biden-voting states: VA, NM, MD, HI, 1/2 of ME

2016/2020 Trump-voting states: KY, AK, AL, WV, MS, 1/2 of ME

It's not so much "blue states" as frequently claimed, but taxpayers of four very wealthy Northeast states (the Tri-State area plus Massachusetts) that account for the vast bulk of citizens paying more than they receive from the federal government. After them come CO, NE, UT, and MN, of which half voted for Hillary/Biden and half for Trump. All other states, including CA, are net beneficiaries of the taxpayers in the top eight (and, again, really, it's the top four).