regardless of how much money CA pays to the feds, the rest of the country is still subsidizing them. Simple Math. Lets say we have 2 people, A and B. Both A & B make $100K and everything else is equal between them . A lives in a state with a 15% income tax, and B lives in a state with a 3% income tax. Both can write their state taxes off, so A has a tax base of $85K, and B has a tax base of $97K. If the tax rate is 20%, then A is paying $17K in taxes, and B is paying $19.4K in taxes. B is subsidizing A because A is getting to write off more than B just because A lives in a high income tax state. See ... it does not matter how much CA sends the feds in total, CA is getting a subsidy because their taxpayers have been allowed to write off more than taxpayers in other states.
Just so. I made the same point to Mariner. In your example, B is not funding a sanctuary state run by communists, A doesn’t care that he is because he can shift that cost to the fed side of the ledger.