Why Blue States Are the Real ‘Tea Party’

NY Times Opinion Pages ^ | 12-3-2016 | Steven Johnson

[Clutch Martin]

The only thing that this election proved if Hillary got the larger percentage of popular votes.... is how stupid those voters really are. And that’s worrisome.

[Sam Clements]

I am a Conservative Republican and Evangelical living in California. How much representation do I get in the Electoral College? Thank God that folks in Pa, Wisconsin, and Michigan have my back. God Bless.

[x]

Thanks to the two extra votes delivered to each state for its two senators, the Electoral College gives less populated states a higher weight, per capita, than it gives more populated states in the decision of who should be the next president.

But it's never Wyoming or Delaware or Vermont or North Dakota that decides presidential elections.

It's always a larger state like Florida or Ohio or Michigan or Pennsylvania.

Also, articles like this tend to turn states into stereotypes.

Not everybody in the blue states wants open borders or an end to the coal industry, and not everybody in the red states wants to overturn marijuana legalization or gay marriage.

[x]

Surprisingly there are some very good responses in the comments section of the Slimes.

You have to get beyond the selected comments that they give you at first and get at the complete list of comments.

One commenter noted that, once you leave out the very rich, per capita taxes paid don't vary as much between the states as the article says. It's the few very rich people in large cities and suburbs that make the largest contributions, not necessarily the average blue stater.

[aquila48]

“It’s the few very rich people in large cities and suburbs that make the largest contributions, not necessarily the average blue stater.”

And the leftists love to soak their rich.

[5th MEB]

I want to know who first pushed the idea the the United States is a democracy, last time I checked we were a Representative Republic.
I do not like mob rule, “unless I am the boss of the biggest mob”.

[Jack Hammer]

NYT is totally discredited.

[Navin Johnson]

Such a well thought out and accurate depiction of the forces we must fight against on a daily basis. As you have pointed out in great detail this is a battle that has been raging for ages. And it will continue long after we are gone.

[Impy]

9 out of 10 birds now refuse to even take a crap on the New York Slimes, too undignified.

[yuleeyahoo]

For complicated reasons — some of which have to do with rural poverty, some of which have to do with the basic physics of supporting infrastructure in low-density regions — a disproportionate amount of per capita federal spending and benefits now flow down to the low-density states. According to a study by the Tax Foundation conducted several years ago, for every dollar New Jersey pays in federal taxes, it receives 61 cents in benefits and other federal spending. For the same dollar of taxes Wyoming spends, it gets $1.11 back.

When states have federal lands within their borders, those states can receive Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), which are federal monies given to local governments as payment for property taxes lost to non-taxable federal lands, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2013, the states received roughly $400 million in PILT payments, up from the $393 million sent out in 2012.

The Federal government owns 48% of Wyoming vs. 4% of New Jersey. Maybe this is a small part of the descrepency?

[yuleeyahoo]

The Senate is based on representing the states - the eternity clause prevents states from being deprived of their equal representation in the Senate. That’s in contrast to the House which is based on representation by population. Its been that way for over two centuries. There is no demonstrable need to change it.

The 17th ammendment which changed the appointment of Senators to popular election; effectively ended state representation in Congress as each Senator eventually became party hacks that had no need to respect the desires of the state legislatures.

[mom of young patriots]

You’ve got my sympathies. I have conservative relatives in California who feel the same frustration.

You can take some comfort in the fact that the flood of people from L.A. who’ve now set up their residences in Austin, Texas are getting a taste of what you’ve been feeling. I said the other day that they now, finally, understand what it feels like for their vote to not count against the rest of the state and it couldn’t make me more happy.

[Jacquerie]

Judicially imposed one man, one vote has been a disaster. It was the state-level equivalent of the 17A.

Progressing the Constitution: One Man, One Vote.

Progressing the Constitution: One Man, One Vote II.