Next, include the total federal outlays per capita received by that state. The difference between these two quantities directly measures how much a state depends on government programs to function, and how much the government depends on the state to run. When you conduct this exercise, you find that eight of the top ten states that pay more per capita to the federal government than they receive are blue states. On the other end, not including Virginia (home of the high-budget Pentagon), six of the ten states that receive more support from the federal government28 than they pay are red
...more
