the feds giveth, and the feds taketh away

And for some states, the feds take away more than they give back. This report is from 2005, but as has been pointed out by People Smarter than I, there's a disproportionate number of blue states among those ranked at the bottom of the list ofFederal Spending Received Per Dollar of Taxes Paid by State, and receive less than $1 of spending per $1 of taxes paid.

Some of that disparity is clearly population driven. More of that disparity is better explained by the division of affluence and wealth. This is underscored by the listing of the District of Columbia at the bottom of the list. Nowhere else are people so near to the power and the money and the doing of the governing of a nation, and yet so collectively poor and powerless.