Government Spending: State by State
November 30, 2009
For the fiscal year 2009, some states got a larger slice of available government money than others. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of which states got the most government money per capita and which states received the least.
(click to enlarge)
Even with the stimulus many states, like my home state of California, are struggling to make changes to the current economic crisis. I don’t think chasing more good money after bad will help, rather fundamental shifts in the way we do business as states will have to change; a paradigm shift that may take years to instate, but will no doubt have long-term benefits.
I for one am willing to ’suffer’ now to make these changes so that future generations can benefit.
Comment by Mark Montoya — November 30, 2009 @ 11:07 am
Why would you parenthesize “suffer”? People are REALLY suffering right NOW… if you are really in danger of suffering financially you wouldn’t have typed it that way. I agree with you basically, but just remember, people out there CAN’T find jobs and are literally becoming homeless due to the current economy. You probably weren’t trying to make light of it but it seems to trivialize “suffering”…
Interesting infographic though. Thanks
Comment by Sean — December 1, 2009 @ 3:54 am
There seems to be a typo in the bottom graph. You have MA listed twice and MD is missing.
Comment by Adrien — December 1, 2009 @ 8:17 am
And ‘delaware’ is speller wrong.. But I’m sure despite the typos encountered we can totally trust your numbers.
Comment by Uh-huh — January 10, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
He put ’suffer’ in quotes (not parenthesis) because nobody is in danger of starving to death, like they were during the Great Depression. Or in many parts of the world today.
Comment by Jesse — January 10, 2010 @ 12:41 pm
suffering? “suffering”?? O…right…SUFFERING…”World hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1,020 million people going hungry every day, according to new estimates published by UN FAO today.”
Comment by insight — January 10, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
Adrien, you are a fool. MA and MD are 4 bars apart. Silly, Silly fool.
Comment by Me — January 10, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
@Mark Montoya
I agree, California *does* need to change the fundamental way it does business — but not necessarily by cutting taxes.
The state’s budget problems stem from “Proposition 13″ which passed in 1978. It single-handedly cut property taxes by 57%, there by forcing the state to rely much more heavily on income taxes (which works great in an economic boom, but is incredibly stupid during a recession). Furthermore, it instated a requirement that any new tax increase required a two thirds majority to pass. How often do you see a two thirds majority for *anything* in congress?
So they cut the major constant source of funding, and then made it neigh impossible to fix the situation. Then, low and behold, California ran up record amounts of debt. Surprise surprise.
Know your history.
Comment by Research Doesn't Hurt — January 10, 2010 @ 1:21 pm
Wow, it’s surprising to see that Vermont’s %GSP is so high (I live there). I wonder if that’s a good indicator of relative taxes when looking at other states? If so, looks like Maryland is the place to be.
Comment by James Thompson — January 10, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
Ahem.
“suffer” <– quotation marks
(suffer) <– parentheses
Thank you.
Comment by Singe — January 10, 2010 @ 2:08 pm
Sean- Those aren’t parentheses. Maybe if you had a proper education, you wouldn’t be in danger of ’suffering’.
Comment by Ambrose — January 10, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
I think the “suffering,” that the homeless population endure, is nothing in comparison to how much of the world’s poverty suffers. Those very fortunate to live in a wealthly country are very lucky
Comment by Andrew — January 10, 2010 @ 4:32 pm
To bad there isn’t such a thing as a ‘wealthy’ country anymore.
To end the current economic situation, we need to end the retards in charge of spending, such as but not limited to, the IRS. And our government is largely to blame. If we took every penny we have spent on this shit-hole of a war, we would have paid off our national debt. But your right, i would rather give up everything just to save our asses…. oh yeah, except our liberty and freedom – oh wait, we already let them take that nine years ago ( remember the patriot act? our ’savior’ of a president resigned that trash )
Great graphic Author! Thank You!
Comment by David — January 11, 2010 @ 5:26 am
He could have meant suffering comparable to the suffering in Darfur or the Holocaust. Not having money isn’t really comparable suffering to genocide.
Comment by Justine — January 12, 2010 @ 3:59 am
Why is so much stimulus spending going into red states that did everything they could to prevent the stimulus bill from passing in the first place?
If a state’s Senators voted against the stimulus, they shouldn’t get anything. Voters need to be taught that voting for reactionary obstructionists has consequences.
Comment by Curmudgeon — January 12, 2010 @ 2:58 pm
STOP ____The “PUBLIC EMPLOYEES thief from Bankrupting
“AMERICA” The Federal-State-Local Firemen-Policepeople
*&* other
Goverment Employees and Politicans are Bankrupting “America’
Making 4-10 Times what avg., working people make and with
100% of last day’s pay retirements ????? FOREVER ???
Do “YOU” get a 100%
retirement of last day pay with all benes and Full medical ??? FOREVER
Why NOT “YOUR” GOVERMENT EMPLOYEES DO-~~~!!!!!!—?????
Google__ Bankrupted Vallejo ,
California and approx., 20 +++
other California cities and the STATE itself-
Now the Public Employees in California have decided to make
it a California Constitutional RIGHT with a California
Constitutional Admentment for Nov., 2010.
And the “Stupid People here will probaly not READ and it
will pass ????? UNREAL___Mike ( I am moving ASAP
Comment by Mike Goldman — January 13, 2010 @ 2:29 pm