I’m sorry facts hurt you so much. I travel a great deal for work, and my index for daily allowance is much higher in blue states. We use a simple table. California is almost 2x Arkansas. Didn’t mean to hurt your widdle feelings.
Not sure where you’re traveling, but Texas and California look pretty similar here. Look at LA and Austin. I think we were talking about Texas, not Arkansas, right?
https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates
The California numbers are a little higher, sure. Part of the problem in Texas is that things have got a lot more expensive in the last several years. This has people upset.