Posted on 07/22/2002 8:34:30 AM PDT by JDGreen123
Washington, D.C. July 17, 2002 — Some states feast at the expense of others, according to the Tax Foundation’s annual analysis of federal fiscal operations.
By comparing the federal tax burden in each state with an adjusted set of the Census Bureau’s most recent data (2001) on federal spending in each state, Tax Foundation senior economist Scott Moody has ranked states in order of which got the best deal in 2001 from Uncle Sam’s tax and spending policies.
Federally Favored States
In No. 116 of the Tax Foundation’s Special Report series, titled “Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State,” Moody points out that during fiscal 2001, taxpayers in New Mexico benefited the most from the give-and-take with Uncle Sam.
New Mexico received $2.08 in federal outlays for every $1.00 the state’s taxpayers sent to Uncle Sam. No other state got a 2-1 ratio, but Uncle Sam spent $1.95 in North Dakota for each tax dollar, $1.78 in Mississippi, and $1.73 in West Virginia.
Though not comparable as a state, the District of Columbia is by far the biggest beneficiary of federal spending: In 2001 it received $5.73 in federal outlays for every dollar its taxpayers sent to the U.S. Treasury.
States That Help Others
If some states are beneficiaries, then naturally some states must be benefactors — those states where so much is collected in federal taxes that any federal largesse they receive is overwhelmed.
New York has often been the biggest loser in the Tax Foundation’s annual comparison of taxes to spending, which inspired Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the Kennedy School of Government to launch their annual reference book comparing state taxes with spending more than 25 years ago. In recent years, however, other states have eclipsed New York for the “blessing” of being the state that gives far more than it receives.
Combining the second highest tax burden per capita with low federal spending (33rd highest), New Jersey had the lowest federal spending-to-tax ratio (0.67). The 0.67 ratio means that New Jersey only receives 67¢ in federal spending for every dollar its taxpayers send to Washington and is therefore the nation’s biggest loser from federal fiscal operations. Other states that had low federal spending-to-tax ratios in FY 2001 are Connecticut (67¢), New Hampshire (71¢), Nevada (76¢) and Illinois (78¢).
Changing Ranks
The state that raised its ratio the most over the past ten years is Alaska where federal spending rose from $1.19 to $1.63 for each dollar in taxes. This 44¢ increase beats out Hawaii, where federal spending increased 42¢ per dollar of tax, North Dakota (40¢ more spending per dollar), and West Virginia (31¢ more spending per dollar).
States where the ratio dropped most dramatically are Colorado and Massachusetts. Colorado has seen its federal spending-to-tax ratio fall 33¢ from $1.15 in FY 1991 to 82¢ in FY 2001. Massachusetts’s has dropped 23¢.
How Can States React?
Federal spending on defense and other procurement dollars are often funneled to the states of powerful congressmen, and state governments can grab more federal grant money by skillfully — some would say slavishly — manipulating their spending to comply with federal regulations.
However, demography is at least as influential as politics. States with more residents on Social Security, Medicare and other large federal entitlements are bound to rank fairly high. Similarly, the high spending levels in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia are explained by the predominance of federal employees.
On the tax side of the equation, states with higher incomes per capita — Connecticut stands out — pay much higher federal taxes per capita because of the income tax’s progressive structure.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
Visit the link for the complete chart:
Adjusted Federal Expenditures Per Dollar of Taxes by State Fiscal Years 1991 and 2001
He may be crooked, but he's no fool. Because of the inflated salaries and costs of living in the Northeast, many people who would be considered middle-class earners in other parts of the country end up getting pushed into higher tax brackets. The best remedy for this is a flat income tax rate, since this would largely eliminate the disparities in taxes that are the result of these geographic differences in costs of living.
As Mr. Brown used to joking say to us neighborhood kids, "Which do you want, a fat lip or a busted eyebrow." That was not lost on me. From Democrats you get one, from Republicans you get the other. Voting for the lesser of evils still begets evil.
The Genie is Out of the Bottle
Congress has created so many laws that virtually every person is assured of breaking more than just traffic laws. Surely with all this supposed lawlessness people and society should have long ago run head long into destruction. But it has not.
Instead, people and society have progressively prospered. Doing so despite politicians creating on average, 3,000 new laws each year which self-serving alphabet-agency bureaucrats implement/utilize to justify their usurped power and unearned paychecks. They both proclaim from on high -- with complicit endorsement from the media and academia -- that all those laws are "must-have" laws to thwart people and society from running headlong into self-destruction.
Again, despite not having this year's 3,000 must-have laws people and society increased prosperity for years and decades prior. How can it be that suddenly the people and the society they form has managed to be so prosperous for so long but suddenly they will run such great risk of destroying their self-created prosperity?
The government is the all time champion of cooking the books and it has the gall to point fingers at the whole business community because of a few bad apples. The entire business community and employees that support it should stand tall against a government feigning to protect the little guy from organizations that cook their books.
If there was ever a prime example of the fox guarding the hen house it is the government claiming to protect the little guy from organizations that cook their books. President Bush will have to militarily smash down terrorism. For that is his job. It's not the President's, congress' or the government's job to manipulate the economy.
The business community with their employees will have to stand tall against the PC-status-quo fox -- self-proclaimed authorities claiming/feigning they'll use the government to protect the little guy and a complicit media and academia that supports them; for they are all the fox -- to regain their rightful place as the champions of honest business that has always increased the well-being of people.
The government, having already manipulated the economy to almost no-end, President Bush can play the unbeatable five-ace hand of replacing the threat-of-force IRS and graduated income tax with a don't-pay-the-tax-if-you-don't-want-to consumption tax. For example, implement the proposed national retail sales tax (NRST). Not only would that win votes for Bush and republicans in congress it would boom the economy.
Where will it lead?
War of Two Worlds
Value Creators versus Value Destroyers
Politics is not the solution. It's the problem!
The first thing civilization must have is business/science. It's what the family needs so that its members can live creative, productive, happy lives. Business/science can survive, even thrive without government/bureaucracy.
Government/bureaucracy cannot survive without business/science. In general, business/science and family is the host and government/bureaucracy is a parasite.
Aside from that, keep valid government services that protect individual rights and property. Military defense, FBI, CIA, police and courts. With the rest of government striped away those few valid services would be several fold more efficient and effective than they are today.
Underwriters Laboratory is a private sector business that has to compete in a capitalist market. Underwriters laboratory is a good example of success where government fails.
Any government agency that is a value to the people and society -- which there are but a few -- could better serve the people by being in the private sector where competition demands maximum performance.
Wake up! They are the parasites. We are the host. We don't need them. They need us.
* * *
After all, in calling for the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commissioner Harvey Pitt, McCain declares, “Government’s demands for corporate accountability are only credible if government executives are held accountable as well." Does that mean U.S. senators? Congress, Accounting, and the Free Market (McCain is grandstanding again)
"Too often, we have cooked the books, exploited off-balance sheet accounting, fudged budget numbers and failed to disclose fully the nation's assets and liabilities. If we in Washington are to have credibility in the public eye as we address the corporate accounting mess, we must reform our own fiscal practices," said McCain. Social Security Called A Bigger Fraud Than Corporate Scandals
Prove it first. It's not like it's a new discovery or problem. It's a seventy-year-old problem. It's just that now politicians and bureaucrats have trapped themselves and the general public is becoming increasingly aware. They've been caught and McCain is getting interview time to peddle gussied-up compassionate government.
"Allowing Americans to invest responsibly a small part of their payroll taxes will not only save Social Security, but will provide them with greater retirement income than those who no or will soon depend on Social Security checks," said McCain. Social Security Called A Bigger Fraud Than Corporate Scandals
Notice McCain so readily self-proclaims himself and government the authority to allow Americans to invest part of their own money. But he has a condition; it most be done responsibly. And who decides what is responsible? Certainly not the all-time champion, cook-the-books bureaucrats and snake-oil-salesmen politicians.
They -- self-proclaimed authorities -- are running citizens and society headlong into destruction.
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