Consider this Reuters story "G.O.P. Strips Mandatory Funding for Two Alaskan Bridges"

Sounds like they just tightened their belts and cut some pork. Wrong!

Read the story, it's hysterical, they eliminate the "bridge to nowhere" but they keep the funding intact! Like the problem with the Alaskan pork project was that it was just too obviously a waste of money to fund, and next time they should try harder to disguise their theft of tax money? What do you think? And consider who in this country is really paying the burden of this pork? Hint: the Blue states. I wonder if anybody in red states like Alaska realize how silly it is for them to send jackasses to congress that lower their federal taxes, considering their states make far more money from taxes than they pay in.

This map shows the relative tax burdens of the individual states as measured by the return they get on every dollar they pay in federal tax. For instance, New Jersey gets $0.57 in federal money for every dollar in federal tax it pays. Similarly California, the worlds 5th largest economy, gets $0.78 in federal funding for every federal tax dollar it pays. Poverty-stricken red states then soak up the blue state surplus with states like Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama getting between $1.50 and $2.00 back for every dollar they pay. These states actually make money off of federal taxes! Why do they send tax cutters to congress?



Therefore I suggest this radical step. If we just allowed the Republicans to cut taxes like they want, and totally bankrupt the federal government, Democrats win on three fronts. First, blue states actually make money for the country rather than just suck it up, so they can raise their state taxes, pay for the services the federal government would have covered in their states, and at the same time by keeping the cash internal, build on their own infrastructure and create jobs. Second, once red staters realize they were really riding a cash cow when it came to federal funding they'll be pissed at the Republicans for strapping their states for cash. Third, no more money for wars!

Think of the red states as giant ticks that are all feeding on cash from the blue state coffers. The Republicans are tying a tourniquet around the blood supply feeding those ticks. Maybe we should let them.

From The Tax Foundation, Federal Taxing and Spending Benefit Some States, Leave Others Paying Bill, October 7, 2004, at www.taxfoundation.org.