Originally Posted by EdgeXXX

You're thinking of it the wrong way. The comparison you're trying to make has nothing to do with Red or Blue, it has more to do with taxation amounts based on populace (with a COL adjustment) vs amounts needed for Federal spending (on things like roads, schools, etc). The Blue states on average spend quite a bit more on social "benefits" like welfare. Keeping with your 2005 example, here is the welfare spending by state for that same fiscal time frame:

http://www.ppinys.org/reports/jtf/welfarespending.htm


Here is an historic Red/Blue breakdown for comparison:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rpleNation.PNG