Serious Implications

Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain and others are expressing outrage over what they claim is the unfair deal the Senate gave Nebraska to persuade Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to vote for health care reform. Graham and McCain are making a silly and disingenuous argument given the long-standing inequality of federal aid to states.

The Tax Foundation publishes annual reports describing how much money states get per dollar of federal tax revenue each state sends to Washington. The Tax Foundation’s data for 2005, the most recent available, is found here.

Here’s how three of the states fare:

South Carolina (Graham’s state) $1.31 received from the federal government for every $1.00 they send to Washington.

Arizona (McCain’s state) $1.19 back for every $1.00 sent.

Nebraska (Ben Nelson’s state) $1.10 back for every $1.00 sent to Washington.

All three of the above states are subsidized by the federal government, but Graham and McCain’s states are more subsidized than Nelson’s Nebraska.

The range of unequal state reimbursements per $1.00 sent to Washington range from $2.03 for New Mexico to as low as $0.61 for New Jersey. “Red” states are generally much more subsidized compared to “Blue” states, as discussed here and here.

Do Graham and McCain really expect us to believe that unequal appropriations to states have nothing to do with making deals in Congress?

Silly boys.