[skinnynerd]

Take a look at this table http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/08/americas-f... to see how income is distributed in the US between the states. New Mexico has received over two-and-a-half times its 2009 GDP more in federal spending than it has sent in taxes over a twenty year period. The equivalent for Europe would be akin to Greece getting over $760 billion. Yeah, Europe has to work on its "union" aspect a bit.

[uvdiv]

That's not comparable: one is subsidy, one is spending. US spends money in New Mexico by maintaining military bases and hiring New Mexico residents to work for them [1]. They serve the entire country, not just New Mexico. In contrast, the EU sending checks to Greece or forgiving its debt is pure subsidy. Only Greece directly benefits from it.

It's one thing to spend money in exchange for goods and services, and another thing to give it away in exchange for nothing.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico#Federal_government