Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

wall_street61 .. so since the Federal govt. can print money they don't have a crisis about the Federal
debt, you implied that, right? .. also, i'm not sure if your logic isn't a bit scrambled here ..

"Obviously, their tax rates, which are higher than most all
of the other states, have not lead to 'economic booms'.

If Krugman was correct, California would have a cash surplus. LOLOLLLLL"

Fair dinkum, could you quote from my Krugman post to make the connections are are getting at clearer, please .. He doesn't even mention tax levels in that article, basically he simply makes the point that money has to be out there to create jobs .. in history there is clear evidence that austerity in down times just doesn't work .. search the board for "austerity if you need more.

NOW .. sheesh .. since you brought California into it for some i-don't-fathom-yet reason could you
just remind all of us how much California contributes to the other states? .. one post comes to mind ..

~~~~~~~~

This one isn't it wasn't it, but makes the point i was thinking of ..

Moochers Against Welfare

By PAUL KRUGMAN February 16, 2012

First, Atlas shrugged. Then he scratched his head in puzzlement.

Modern Republicans are very, very conservative; you might even (if you were Mitt Romney) say, severely conservative. Political scientists who use Congressional votes to measure such things find that the current G.O.P. majority is the most conservative since 1879, which is as far back as their estimates go.

And what these severe conservatives hate, above all, is reliance on government programs.

[...]

Many readers of The Times were, therefore, surprised to learn, from an excellent article published last weekend, [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/even-critics-of-safety-net-increasingly-depend-on-it.html ] that the regions of America most hooked on Mr. Santorum’s narcotic — the regions in which government programs account for the largest share of personal income — are precisely the regions electing those severe conservatives. Wasn’t Red America supposed to be the land of traditional values, where people don’t eat Thai food and don’t rely on handouts?

The article made its case with maps showing the distribution of dependency, but you get the same story from a more formal comparison. Aaron Carroll of Indiana University tells us that in 2010, residents of the 10 states Gallup ranks as “most conservative” received 21.2 percent of their income in government transfers, while the number for the 10 most liberal states was only 17.1 percent.

Now, there’s no mystery about red-state reliance on government programs. These states are relatively poor, which means both that people have fewer sources of income other than safety-net programs and that more of them qualify for “means-tested” programs such as Medicaid.

By the way, the same logic explains why there has been a jump in dependency since 2008. Contrary to what Mr. Santorum and Mr. Romney suggest, Mr. Obama has not radically expanded the safety net. Rather, the dire state of the economy has reduced incomes and made more people eligible for benefits, especially unemployment benefits. Basically, the safety net is the same, but more people are falling into it.

But why do regions that rely on the safety net elect politicians who want to tear it down? I’ve seen three main explanations. .. more .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=72255651

~~~~~~~~

This isn't it either, but the chart and the point is ..

A larger welfare state can mean a lower deficit
Posted by Ezra Klein at 03:25 PM ET, 12/08/2011


http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=69757383

with your focus on the national debt worth you considering ..

~~~~~~~~

NOT this one either, yet another chart won't do you any harm ..

It’s Not About Welfare States

Paul Krugman November 10, 2011, 2:08 am



Sweden, with the largest social expenditure, is doing just fine. So is Denmark. And Germany, which
is the up side of the pulling-apart euro, has a bigger welfare state than the GIPS.

Not that the facts will convince anyone on the right, but the blame-the-welfare-state meme is nonsense.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/its-not-about-welfare-states/
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=68907322