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Check the stats out by town in each state. The wealthiest towns in CT (among the wealthiest in the nation) are solid RED, while the poorer cities that are over 80% minority are solid BLUE.
Don't get me wrong, even the Republicans in Connecticut are more moderate compared to our Southern friends.
That's a good point. So someone trying to contradict the Generosity Index showing the Red States giving a higher percentage of their incomes to charity is being disengenuous.
The "Red States" have a smaller population base, but each individual still pays their fair share of income taxes. "Blue States" have higher tax revenues because they have larger populations.
That still doesn't excuse the fact that individuals in the Red States and Blue States pay the SAME PERCENTAGE of their income to Federal Taxes.
The Red States still give a HIGHER PERCENTAGE of their individual income to charity after they have already paid the same percentage of their income to taxes as individuals in the Blue States.
The Blue States, could still be matching the Red States, and giving a higher percentage of their individual income to charity but choose not to!
Check the stats out by town in each state. The wealthiest towns in CT (among the wealthiest in the nation) are solid RED, while the poorer cities that are over 80% minority are solid BLUE.
Don't get me wrong, even the Republicans in Connecticut are more moderate compared to our Southern friends.
That's a good point, so anyone pointing out that the rich in blue states are elite rich liberals is trying to pull a fast one.
The red states give to charity, but they must be in a really good mood after they get their charity infrastructure and charity federal benefits they did not pay out for in taxes, courtesy of the blue states.
The Red States, could still be matching the Blue States, and apply and use federal funds according to what they give out in taxes but choose not to!
That's a good point, so anyone pointing out that the rich in blue states are elite rich liberals is trying to pull a fast one.
The red states give to charity, but they must be in a really good mood after they get their charity infrastructure and charity federal benefits they did not pay out for in taxes, courtesy of the blue states.
The Red States, could still be matching the Blue States, and apply and use federal funds according to what they give out in taxes but choose not to!
Each individual tax payer in the Red States pays the same percentage of their income to taxes as everyone in the Blue States.
The Blue States have more population thus higher tax revenues based on that.
Interesting thing going on with the RED/BLUE comparisons
And it is kinda the reverse of the Republican "give tax cuts and the rest will follow".
Blue states in general pay more Federal Taxes (more income=more tax) and "contribute" 10-40% of that federal money to the less total tax paying (generally) Red states who end up taking a healthy chunk of tax from the "liberal elite cities" (and since we have a progressive tax code, the red states pay a smaller % of their income as tax). Also since benefits like Social Security are more heavily weighted towards low income folks, that is another area that transfers income from blue to red.
Blue states also pay more State/County/City taxes too. Most states average about 10%, but the Northeast states tend to pay around 12% (and some cities like Bridgeport, CT pay an average of as much as 18% after the federal taxes).
For that extra tax $$ they tend to get better roads and other infrastructure, better schools, and better pay for police, fire, gov't administration, etc (higher pay generally but not always improves quality). Just look at the wonderful levies of Louisiana for an example of "Southern Infrastructure". The blue states also tend to have have a more educated and higher paid workforce. Look at the state schools from blue states (UC Berkley, UCLA, U. Washington, U Wisconsin, U Michigan, Penn State, UConn) they are academic giants, some of the best in the world. Red state schools are generally better known for their football team than academics. An 11-1 record plus a bowl win is great for a job in the NFL, but it doesn't really matter for any job that requires a resume'.
I think the bottom line is that if you put more into education and infrastructure, you get in return in a better educated workforce who earn more money and thus more easily pay for the extra spending... Of course, it might take 20 years to see a full result so I can understand why many people in our current fast food culture wouldn't agree.
The wrench in the system is that folks are being raised in Blue states (and taking advantage of that infrastructure), but then avoid contributing back to the system by moving to the Red states once they graduate to take advantage of low taxes and cheap housing.
A New York Times article, Deficit Spending Can Help Republicans, by Daniel Altman, shows that old, wrong assumptions die hard. The article reports that:
"From the beginning of 2001 through the third quarter of 2002, the federal government leapt from a surplus (including Social Security) amounting to 2.3 percent of gross domestic product to a deficit of the same size. By itself, the current deficit is not terribly threatening. Indeed, running a modest deficit during an economic downturn can be useful, as long as the policies behind the deficit — lower taxes and higher spending — benefit consumers and businesses."
Quote:
Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues Is Curbing Deficit
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: July 9, 2006
WASHINGTON, July 8 — An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit this year, even though spending has climbed sharply because of the war in Iraq and the cost of hurricane relief.
White House officials are expected to announce that the tax receipts will be about $250 billion above last year's levels and that the deficit will be about $100 billion less than what they projected six months ago. The rising tide in tax payments has been building for months, but the increased scale is surprising even seasoned budget analysts and making it easier for both the administration and Congress to finesse the big run-up in spending over the past year.
Get back what you pay out, no more no less, what's unfair about that?
You are being disengenuous and even though I know you gave me the negative rep point I won't do the same to you. We have already shown that "Red States" and "Blue States" contain many different demographics and they all use the same infrastructure and use the same interestates to get across the country, also.
Interesting that you give me a negative rep point for disagreeing on tax revenues when the facts I posted directly contradict your "progressive" beliefs.
I am speaking of percentages for each individual tax payer, which is what the "Generosity Index" is based off of.
I understand the more money you make the higher tax rate you pay, but so does each individual person in a blue state or a red state.
That's my point. A person in a Red State that makes $100,000 a year pays the same Federal Tax Rate as anyone in a Blue State that makes $100,000 a year.
You are being disengenuous and even though I know you gave me the negative rep point I won't do the same to you.
Interesting that you give me a negative rep point for disagreeing on tax revenues when the facts I posted directly contradict your "progressive" beliefs.
Dude, I seriously did not give you negative point, and I have never given one to anyone at all. Don't be paranoid. And I just turn to this page, haven't had the time to read that tax post.
I understand your need to believe I would do that though.
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Interesting thing going on with the RED/BLUE comparisons
