Here in Virginia the Republican Party of Virginia and its Christianist allies love to depict the poor as dead beats and by coded language typically as racial minorities. The Party would have all of their Kool-Aid drinking followers believe that it's only black welfare queens who are sucking at the tit of the government for support. A piece in the New York Times over the weekend looked at this myth across the large GOP. At Blue Virginia another piece applies the findings across Virginia. The findings? Reactionary "red" regions of the state have the highest government transfer payments (e.g., "entitlements" like Medicare, Medicaid and Security, which account for the vast majority of the U.S. budget) while progressive "blue" regions have far lowers levels of payment. The map above shows the correlation. It's yet another example of the schizophrenic nature of today's GOP. Here are some highlights:
The data and anecdotal evidence paint a fascinating, utterly schizophrenic, and I'd argue deeply dysfunctional, picture of American politics: 1) on the one hand, a population that is heavily and increasingly dependent on government transfer payments of various kinds (e.g., "entitlements" like Medicare, Medicaid and Security, which account for the vast majority of the U.S. budget); and 2) a tendency towards being "redder" politically where dependence is high, "bluer" politically where dependence is low.
The bluest parts of the country, in contrast, tend to have the lowest dependency on government "welfare." They also tend to be the states that are the net "donors" (e.g., give out more money than they take in), while the red states overwhelmingly are net "recipients" of federal largesse.
You can see it clearly in Virginia's map:
The disparity between the reddest parts of Virginia (mostly net recipient areas) and the bluest parts (mostly net donors) is striking. Thus, in Fairfax County, government transfer payments account for just 4.98% of county income. In Arlington, it's just 4.51%. In Loudoun County, it's 4.89%; in Prince William County, it's 7.39%. Note that all of those counties tend strongly "blue" in presidential (all went strongly for Obama-Biden over McCain-Palin in 2008) and federal elections (all went for Jim Webb over George Allen in 2006).
In contrast, look at solid "red" Wise County, with 32.08% of county income accounted for by government transfer payments, or Patrick County, at 33.79%. In 2008, those two counties went by huge margins for McCain-Palin over Obama-Biden (63%-35% and 64%-34%, respectively). In 2006, both those counties went for George Allen over Jim Webb. The pattern here is glaringly obvious.
Republicans have relentlessly demonized government, even as they grab as much government money as possible, whether in the forms of subsidies to corn growers, extremely cheap mining and grazing rights on public lands, individual transfer payments, etc., etc.
You see it clearly here in Virginia, where Bob McDonnell constantly bashes and belittles government, even as Virginia is among the states most dependent on federal largesse for its prosperity. Take away the federal government, including both civilian, military, and "private" contractor, plus all the spinoff business that comes along with all those people living in Virginia, and the Commonwealth begins to look a lot more like poverty-stricken Alabama or Mississippi or West Virginia than what the relative prosperity many of us are used to in Virginia nowadays.
Yet, according to Bob McDonnell, who either is wildly ignorant, totally delusional, ruthlessly ambitious, or simply lying through his teeth (my bet is on a combination of the four), the "Virginia story" is all about private companies wanting to set up shop here because of our "friendly business climate." Well, sure, except for the overwhelming federal role in Virginia's economy, plus the fact that corporate relocations to Virginia often involve heavy doses of taxpayer-funded corporate welfare payments to those companies to get them to come here. If that's free market conservatism, then I'm Grover Norquist. Heh.
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