During a Facebook exchange with a conservative woman on tax policy, I drew attention to the under acknowledged fact that America’s ”moochers and freeloaders” – her words not mine – live in mostly conservative states.
From The Atlantic:
….there’s Romney’s argument that the people who are receiving government benefits will vote for Obama “no matter what.” But the numbers don’t support that idea either. Of the ten states with the highest percentage of non-taxpayers, only two of those states (Florida and New Mexico) went for Obama in 2008. The rest are in the Southern block of reliably Republican states.
This was her response:
Doesn’t it make sense that the poor would follow the workers in the red states where the people work and earn a living? Why would a freeloader go to the poor blue states if they want money, they go to the red states where people work and earn so they can get some of it. That is common sense.
When someone reveals themselves to be this profoundly stupid, all conversation ends. It has to. To be clear, her theory is that poor people are deliberately dispersing themselves in southern states so as to live off the wealth of southern, hardworking whites. She would rather concoct a fictional narrative than acknowledge a disparity supported by every available piece of evidence. I can’t do anything with that. And neither can Democrats in Congress, who are up against Republicans, who are buttressed by voters like the woman I was having the exchange with. If you want to understand why Congress can’t get anything done, just remember that any negotiation requires a meeting of the minds. When one mind is absent, or refuses to engage in its capacity for cognition, then all bets are off.
Seriously, wealthier states like New York, Massachusetts, etc. support poorer (usually Southern) states like Mississippi. When they pay in and the federal government does its redistribution of wealth in the form of tax dollars, this is where it goes. It is not a dollar for dollar system. It goes where it is needed most. Red states are always first in line for their federal 'dole.' I would stop these 'handouts' since they are the biggest opponents of 'redistribution.' And that would be common sense...
The biggest single pieces of these transfer payments are 1. Social Security: people move south when they retire 2. Military spending on the plethora of bases
People don't "move south" when they retire. They move to Florida when they retire. No one's packing up the RV and heading to Mississippi or Alabama to live out the rest of their years. But If you want to make the case that ALL the states that take more federal dollars than they give have a disproportionate number of elderly citizens, then make it, preferably with data.
Great! Packing my snoopy sack right now and heading to Tennessee! I, too, want to live off the fat of the white man's land and hard work. Thanks for enlightening me!