[wakawaka28]

California is also huge and populous. It's not like there is anything special about California that makes it have a high GDP, other than its size and the great weather which attracts a lot of people and businesses to there. I would have to look it up, but I suspect that every state pays more to the Federal government than they get. There's no free lunch.

To my original point, most people and businesses are not flocking to California to be taxed to hell for some welfare programs or whatever. Businesses would move in a heartbeat away from that overtaxed and overregulated state if they could. But since most taxes are federal and can't be avoided by moving to the Midwest or something, they might as well pay a little more to be in a marginally better or more prestigious location.

[IAmBroom]

> I would have to look it up, but I suspect that every state pays more to the Federal government than they get.

No state pays more to the Federal government than it gets. States don't pay federal taxes, but receive federal funds.

[wakawaka28]

I'm not talking about the government itself lol. I mean the people and businesses in each state collectively, obviously. Even with the huge national debt and budget deficit, I think most states on net contribute more in taxes than they get back. That's the entire point of taxes, otherwise it would be called a gift or something instead. The federal government could not pay out more than it takes in indefinitely to the entire country without just running the printing press to pay the difference. That is what they do, in fact, but clearly they aren't printing everything they spend.