Former Republican Party chairman Michael Steele warned that expected cuts coming from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will harm MAGA areas more than Democratic cities. Although Congress has not officially created Elon Musk's largely symbolic department, he is pursuing his promise o...
“Here’s the rub: no one in Washington gives a damn,” said Steele. “Not on Capitol Hill, not on K Street, because they’re all trying to figure out how they get a piece of it or get protected…So, we’re all bought in here onto this. The American people signed on the dotted line. Do more of this. And they think that they’re going to benefit.”
He explained that $2 trillion in cuts would have to impact the MAGA world. One of Trump’s first actions was to roll back President Joe Biden’s 2022 executive order lowering prescription drug prices for those in Medicare and Medicaid.
“They’re not telling you where it’s coming from. And you know who’s going to ultimately pay for it? All the MAGA in places like Alabama and Mississippi, who already rely on a lot of federal dollars to make their ends meet in those states,” said Steele. “It’s not going to hurt California. It’s not going to hurt New York. They contribute massive amounts of dollars and get back very few federal dollars. Where this comes home to roost is in the very center of MAGA land, and they seem to be okay with that. So cut away, my friend, and just let the squealing begin.”
No shit. For all their railing against taxes and entitlements, Red states overwhelmingly benefit from them while Blue states largely fund them. 4 of the top 5 most dependent states are Red (Alaska, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Montana). And 4 of the top 5 least dependent states are Blue (Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware, and Illinois). They are shooting themselves in the foot, as always.
Source: https://smartasset.com/data-studies/states-most-dependent-federal-government-2023
Interesting link and based on it every single state but New Mexico is paying in more than they are getting out, meaning that 49 of the 50 are carrying their own water. What the high contribution states like Minnesota are really paying for is all of the other stuff that the Federal Government does.
There are always administrative costs that drain a portion of the revenue. It’s unavoidable. However, the losses to administrative costs would be significantly higher for each state were they to replace them with state-run alternatives. Particularly in those states where the services are in highest demand. Right now, West Virginia only gets back a dollar for every $1.04 spent, yes. That may seem like it would be in their interest to omit themselves from federal taxes and services. But then they would either have to replace those services themselves or leave their citizens without. Were they to replace the federal services themselves, that $1.04 would almost certainly be higher, potentially multiple times higher. And were they to leave their citizens without, people leave, turn to crime or die.
If California could somehow give me option to redirect my federal tax to the state I would gladly do it.