MartiniPundit

That’s What the Government Is for Right?

Hot of the heels of the Red State - Blue State IQ Hoax, Michelle Malkin has put together a handy chart of charitable donations by state.  It is a sad commentary but all I can think is that those Blue Staters must think that charity begins with the government.

Meanwhile, I am downright embarrassed that Massachusetts ranks 49th in giving.

1. what hoax?
   Not that meaningless map again?

   They’re 49th in giving but in the top ten in receiving less government monies than they remit in taxes. So they are actually in the top 5 in Charity, because they give money to the red states by way of taxes.

   Those blue states are the healthiest states.

   Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate, which says something about family values and morality.

   And as I said before for every $1 the red states pay in taxes they receive considerably more than a $1 back from the governemnt.

   The bottomline is there are charts that show a lot of things, forget that stupid counties map. The Republicans won the election, get over it already. Stop behaving as if your party lost.

   Posted by Anti  on  11/11  at  08:48 AM

2. Oh, I don’t think I’m behaving as if my party lost, I’m pointing out some hypocrisy.

   I like the latest meme that Red States receive more than Blue States. Ever heard of the Big Dig? But the real relevance there is to note that the Republicans have (mostly) controlled congress for the last decade.  Those who control, can shovel more pork. Which makes that meme far more misleading than an index of charitable giving.

   Posted by  on  11/11  at  10:20 AM

3. I recommend you check out the poverty rates per state:

   http://www.ncjustice.org/LivingWage/StatePovRates08_02.htm

   It correlates very closely by the amount of giving.  The the higher the poverty, the higher the giving amount.  The lower the poverty, the lower the giving amount.  It makes sense.  I would prefer to live in a state with less poverty than a state with higher giving.  Additionally, the giving rate does not break it down as to what organizations they gave.  I am guessing people in Mississippi give a lot to their churches which is a tax deductible contribution but not necessarily going for helping others.  It could be going t Gerry Farwell.

   Posted by aaron  on  11/11  at  02:55 PM

4. I am guessing people in Mississippi give a lot to their churches which is a tax deductible contribution but not necessarily going for helping others. 

   What a world of assumptions fertilized a statement like that.

   Posted by  on  11/11  at  04:04 PM

5. Makes you wonder who has the right priorities!

   Tony Mc

   Posted by Tony Mc  on  11/11  at  05:31 PM

6. Not sure what to make of the figures (my gut says that the higher the state taxes - the lower the charitable giving - I’d like to see that graph) but I will say that Michele is a hottie and Oh yeah - the Red Sox are the 2004 World Series Champions

   Posted by chris  on  11/11  at  05:53 PM

7. State Tax rate. Ugh.

   Also the whole federal tax dollar thing needs to broken down. For example a lot of the red states are wide open and not populated. this has the effect of meaning fixing roads in the midwest costs more per person, the benifit of the road is for everyone (transporting cross country), whereas the big dig benifited bostonians + MA suburbs + NH and RI.

   The dirty secret of is if the Fed only spent money where it should spend money instead of all sorts of crazy pork overload, then the imbalance wouldn’t be a big deal to the liberals, cause hey the money would be going to things that are properly the concern of the fed. since the fed spends so much money on #### gov shouldn’t touch, or things that are the resp. of state/local govs, they think they have an argument. catch 22.

   Posted by  on  11/11  at  06:22 PM

8. Er, Matt.  I went to college in Boston, lived in NJ/worked in NYC, lived/worked in D.C. (Watched the Pentagon burn LIVE out of my office window on 09/11) Then, I moved to a town with a population of circa 5K in a county six times larger than the STATE of Rhode Island with a population of only circa 10K IN THE WHOLE COUNTY (Big Bend National Park is in my county (Brewster)).  The nearest Wal-Mart is 68 miles away, as is the nearest mall.  VERY red state with NO state income tax.  It’s so relaxing out here.  And the high desert mountain environment is awesome.  People in oncoming vehicles WAVE to you!  What I’m saying is, you… could… move.  MA was the second most depressing place I ever lived behind Hoboken, NJ *gag, wretch*.  I mean, they keep re-electing TED KENNEDY up there?!  And libs think us libertarian/conservatives who voted for Bush are stupid? Psssh.  I’ve spent too much time in blue states to ever want to live in one again.  If the blue-staters think us red-staters would miss them if they left the union, they’d be sadly mistaken. We don’t need their Federal dollars at all.  I’m betting we’d get a tax CUT if we didn’t have to pay for the subsidized breeding programs/liberal enslavement programs they call “welfare” and “dissability”, not to mention all the other crap the Feds shouldn’t have anything to do with.  But, THEY do need our oil and gas, and 85% of all of the nations refineries are right here. Texas rules.  Yup, we’re bigger than France.

   The south has risen again, and the northerners are now regretting their victory of 140 years ago.  I’m sorry, but I find that hilarious!

   Nice blog BTW.  Consider yourself Bookmarked.

   /insomnia inspired ramblings

   Posted by  on  11/12  at  05:38 AM

9. BB -

   Thanks.  I grew up in NJ (never lived more the 30 miles from NYC - I grew up looking at those Towers) but have lived in MA for nearly two decades. In my work, I’ve traveled over quite a bit of the country, always liking what I see.  Still, MA is home, and apart from its politics, it’s a great place.  I have one very specific reason which will keep me here at least another decade, but even then I don’t see going anywhere.  But who knows?

   On a side note, I was amused a year or so ago to see that in Kansas I could buy a 120+ acre spread, with two houses, a barn, paddocks, several small bodies of water, and an airstrip for less than I would have to pay for a one bedroom condo on John Kerry’s Beacon Hill.  Heh.

   Posted by  on  11/12  at  10:40 AM

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