Republicans are wholly incompetent at running the government; a fact that should be obvious by now. What should also be obvious is, during the period from 1933–1980, with Democrats in charge most of the time, we became the most prosperous nation in the world. Since Republicans have taken over, we’re quickly becoming an also-ran. That’s not a coincidence; their ideology is vacuous and morally bankrupt. Their intent is to prove that government doesn’t work; you cannot say the same about even the worst Democrat.
Republicans don’t care about deficits, which is why they always leave us with huge debt. Republicans created the conditions that led to both the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Great Bush Mortgage Meltdown and Recession of 2008. Republicans usually crash the economy and run up the debt, while Democrats fix the economy and return the budget at least closer to equilibrium. That doesn’t mean the debt will ever be zero; that’s unrealistic. But with Democrats in charge, the debt went from 120% of GDP to 33% of GDP during the post-war era. It wasn’t until Reagan was elected that the debt became ridiculous. Republican ideology shows that they have no problem leaving the cost of it all to our children and grandchildren.
a list of the ten smartest states, based on level of education and several other factors: 1. Massachusetts; 2. Vermont; 3. Virginia; 4. New Hampshire; 5. Connecticut; 6. New Jersey; 7. Minnesota; 8. Maryland 9. Nebraska; 10. California
Nebraska is the only solidly red state in that group. And yet, when you look at the bottom ten, well…
49.(tie) Mississippi and Louisiana; 48. Nevada; 47. Oklahoma; 45.(tie) Alabama and Arkansas; 44. New Mexico; 43. Indiana; 42. West Virginia; 41. South Carolina. (Source)
The next question is, if red states are such nice places to live, which is what Republicans claim, why do they not attract the best and the brightest? In part, it’s because, while these states feature low taxes, it’s also because the Republicans running these places have messed up everything, including the economy. Face it; even when they have the greatest climate and the lowest taxes, Republican-led states are not great places to live.
Republicans and Economy: Like Oil and Water
Supply-side economics, also known as “trickle-down,” doesn’t work. We know this because Republicans have tried it many times over the past 40 years and the expectation that lower taxes will cause businesspeople to invest more in the economy just doesn’t work. That’s probably because make sense. In the history of the world, lower taxes does not lead to more investment because the two things aren’t related. Most red states feature low or no income tax rates and they brag of “balanced budgets” and restrained spending, but while Republicans often claim, or at least insinuate, that their state economies are in far better shape than those in blue states, they lie. Again, they lie.
Red States are the Real “Welfare Queens.”
As bad as things are in red states, they’d be far worse off without the massive subsidies provided by taxpayers in the blue states. Yes, that’s right; for all the Republican whining about welfare, they’re actually the real “welfare queens,” a term ironically coined by none other than Saint Ronald Reagan. Whenever a Republican whines about how horrible it is to support California during tough times, show them these numbers, laugh in their faces and tell them to shut up.
Here are the red states who receive the most federal money back for every dollar they paid in taxes in 2013: South Carolina, $5.38 (NOT a typo); North Dakota, $3.83; Alabama, $2.46; Mississippi, $2.34; New Mexico, $2.19; Kentucky, $2.18; Florida, $2.02; West Virginia, $1.91; Indiana, $1.81; Wisconsin, $1.79. (Source)
For the record, here are the states that get the least amount of federal money for every dollar they pay in taxes: Delaware $0.31; Nebraska, $0.41; Illinois, $0.45; New Jersey, $0.48; Ohio, $0.51; Kansas, $0.54; Minnesota, $0.54; Wyoming, $0.55; New York, $0.58; Colorado, $0.64 (Source)
There’s an even better measure out there now. Here is a list of states ranked by their government’s dependence on the federal government, based on a number of criteria, including their dependence on federal subsidies, combined with their dependence on federal contracts and the military. This is telling: 1. Mississippi; 2. Louisiana; 3. Tennessee; 4. South Dakota; 5. Missouri; 6. Montana; 7. Georgia; 8. New Mexico; 9. Alabama; 10. Maine. (Source)
One could, of course, make the case that money isn’t everything. If a state was a safe, secure place to live and raise a family, who would really care if they made a bit less, right? Unfortunately for the people living in those red states however, when Republicans complain about how bad things are, they’re projecting.
Red States Are Not Safer
You see, there’s a reason Republicans like to focus on Chicago and Detroit when they talk about violent crime; they want to take the focus off their states. In 2014, the ten states with the highest murder rates were; 1. Louisiana, 10.3 (per 100,000); 2. Mississippi, 8.6; 3. Missouri, 6.6; 4. South Carolina, 6.4; 5. Maryland, 6.1; 6. Nevada, 6.0; 7. (tie) Delaware and Florida, 5.8; 9. (tie) Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, 5.7. (Source)
Notice something missing in that group? Illinois and Michigan? How about New York and New Jersey, which Republicans dismiss as murderous hellscapes because of their strict gun laws.
Meanwhile, the ten states with the lowest murder rates for 2014 were: 50. New Hampshire, 0.9 (per 100,000); 47. (tie) Vermont, Maine and Minnesota, 1.6; 46. Hawaii, 1.8; 45 Iowa, 1.9; 42. (tie) Oregon, Massachusetts and Idaho, 2.0; 41. (tie) Utah and South Dakota, 2.3. (Source)
If you expand that beyond murder to all violent crime, it doesn’t get better for red states. The states with the highest rate of violent crime for 2014 are; 1. Alaska, 635.8 (per 100,000); 2. Nevada, 635.6; 3. Tennessee, 608.4; 4. New Mexico, 597.4; 5. Florida, 540.5; 6. Louisiana, 514.7; 7. South Carolina, 497.7; 8. Delaware, 489.1; 9. Arkansas, 480.1; 10. Maryland, 446.1 (Source)
Though Republican ideology requires a laser-like focus on Chicago, Detroit and New York, while blue states have pockets of violence, violence seems to be everywhere in red states. If it’s a huge red state with almost no people, you may have a chance. If not, you’re screwed.
The “War on Women” is apparently quite literal in red states. The 10 states with the highest rate of women murdered by men (2012) are; 1. Alaska, 2.57 (per 100,000 women); 2. South Carolina, 2.06; 3. Oklahoma, 2.03; 4. Louisiana, 1.92; 5. Mississippi, 1.89; 6. Nevada, 1.83; 7. Missouri, 1.73; 8. Arizona, 1.70; 9. Georgia, 1.66; 10. Tennessee, 1.60. (Source)
Of course, Republican ideology suggests that the solution to violent crime is more guns, but the data suggests the opposite.
The ten states with the highest rate of firearms ownership are: 1. Wyoming 59.7%; 2. Alaska 57.8%; 3. Montana 57.7%; 4. South Dakota 56.6%; 5. West Virginia 55.4%; 6(T) Mississippi, Idaho and Arkansas 55.3%; 9. Alabama 51.7%; 10. North Dakota 50.7%. (Source)
Now, according to GOP ideology, that should mean a lot fewer firearm deaths. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong. There is a whole lot of overlap with states having the highest firearm death rate (2013): 1. Alaska, 19.8 (per 100,000); 2. Louisiana, 19.3; 3. Mississippi, 17.8; 4. Alabama, 17.6; 5. Arkansas, 16.8; 6. Montana and Wyoming, 16.7; 8. Oklahoma, 16.5;.9. New Mexico, 15.5; 10. Tennessee, 15.4. (Source)
Worse, of the 31 states that were above the national average firearm death rate was 10.4 per 100,000, 26 are reliably red. Of the 19 states that were below that average, only two are red.
To reinforce that point, here are the ten states with the lowest rates of gun ownership: 50. Hawaii 6.7%; 49. New Jersey 12.3%; 48. Massachusetts 12.6%; 47. Rhode Island 12.8%; 46. Connecticut 16.7%; 45. New York 18%; 44. Illinois 20.2%; 42(T). California and Maryland 21.3%; 41. Florida 24.5% (Source)
Compare that list of states with the list of ten states with the lowest firearm death rates: 50. Hawaii, 2.6 (per 100,000); 49. Massachusetts, 3.1; 48. New York, 4.2; 47. Connecticut, 4.4; 46. Rhode Island, 5.3; 45. New Jersey, 5.7; 44. New Hampshire, 6.4; 43. Minnesota, 7.6; 42. California, 7.7; 41. Iowa, 8.0 (Source) They all have stricter gun laws, which means the NRA line is obviously a lie. There is no rational basis for a belief that more access to guns equals less gun crime and fewer gun deaths and the numbers prove that.
