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>Commenters occasionally often point out the "red states" are the biggest recipients of welfare in spite of being the ones that vote most against it. Usually framed as "blue states are paying for the red states' welfare". But this isn't true. 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 per the above-mentioned claim, 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). |