What's the Matter with Washington State?

[NashvilleLefty]

91. Do those calculations take into account

the out of state contributions that I spoke about?

NO. they are making the invalid assumption that all taxes are paid by TN residents. if that assumption were true, then - yes - I would be against the sales tax as a purely regressive tax. As I said, I would not recommend this strategy for other states and certainly not for the country. But for a tourist intensive state like TN I think it is a good strategy to bring in revenue from outside, thus LOWERING the tax burden on state residents.

Having said that, I do recognize that TN is one of the states that receives more Fed $ than it pays. In fact, according to one report $1.27 for every $1.00, despite the level of wealth that TN has from the music industry (both Country AND Blues), publishing industry, and other diverse sources of income. Although I suspect much of that can be accounted for by Federal aid to The Smoky Mountain National Park and the research going on there (I have seen it listed as having the most diverse biological ecology in the country, as well as being the most visited National Park in the country) and also the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, it does bring an issue that has been avoided but should be highlighted:

When the Bush administration was in office and Republicans controlled the House, there was an inordinate amount of Pork Barrel spending approved by the Congress. The idea was that Republican Congresscritters could be re-elected more easily if they brought Federal funding back to his/her district. So, an inordinate amount of Federal funds always went to Republican districts. The more Republican districts a state had, the more money the state got.

This reckless spending intended to help Republicans keep their jobs helped contribute to the Deficit. In addition to the reckless tax cuts.