Massachusetts, New York, or California are not among the top 10 socialist states in the nation. Instead, Sarah Palin’ Alaska tops the list, followed by Republican Dick Cheney’s Wyoming. Mississippi, which receives huge subsidies from the federal government, comes third.
How do we know whether a state is socialist? Very easy. By definition, socialist states (or countries) tax and spend a higher percentage of their GDP. Instead of returning state revenue back to taxpayers, these states think they know how to spend hard-earned taxpayer dollars better. So we only need two pieces of data to determine which states are the most socialist: total state revenue and the state’s GDP.
Methodology:
I used the Census Bureau’s total state revenue data from the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances. The data is available for periods as recent as 2008 (the context of this year will make more sense when you see who the top state’s governor was at the time). Then I got my hands on the 2008 state level GDP data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Total state revenue includes all sorts of taxes including individual income tax, property tax, sales tax, and that of motor fuel, alcohol, tobacco, public utilities, etc. It also includes corporate taxes, and motor vehicle licenses, charges collected from highways, education, hospitals, airports, parking, parks, natural resources, housing, sewerage, garbage collection, interest earnings, special assessments, etc. There are only a few things that they don’t tax.
On top of these taxes, states also receive some revenue (sometimes multiples of what they collect in the state) from the federal government. These are federal tax dollars collected from residents of this country, and spent by these states instead of returned to taxpayers. That’s why they are included in the calculations. Did I tell you that I hate taxes?
Anyway, I divided the total state revenue by the state’s GDP and calculate the percentage of the public sector in the state’s economy. The larger this percentage, the more socialist the state is. Period. There’s no other way to look at it. Then I ranked all 50 states and DC to find the top 10 socialist, or red!, states of this country. You won’t believe who is number one. Or, if you’re educated, you already know.
10. Run by Republican John Hoeven: North Dakota. Size of Government: 21.4% State Revenue: $6.7 billion State GDP: $31.2 billion GDP Per Capita: $48650.
9. Run by Democrat Ted Strickland: Ohio. Size of Government: 21.4% State Revenue: $100.9 billion State GDP: $471.5 billion GDP Per Capita: $41051
8. Run by Democrat John Elias Baldacci: Maine. Size of Government: 21.6% State Revenue: $10.8 billion State GDP: $49.7billion GDP Per Capita: $37760
7. Run by Democrat Joe Manchin: West Virginia. Size of Government: 22.2% State Revenue: $13.7 billion State GDP: $61.7 billion GDP Per Capita: $33978
6. Run by Republican Mark Sanford: South Carolina. Size of Government: 22.6% State Revenue: $35.4 billion State GDP: $156.4 billion GDP Per Capita: $34909
5. Run by Democrat Brian Schweitzer: Montana. Size of Government: 23.7% State Revenue: $8.5 billion State GDP: $35.9 billion GDP Per Capita: $37099
4. Run by Republican Jim Douglas: Vermont. Size of Government: 23.9% State Revenue: $6.1 billion State GDP: $25.4 billion GDP Per Capita: $40952
3. “I receive $2 from federal government for each dollar of taxes I collected” Run by Republican Haley Barbour: Red Red Mississippi. Size of Government: 25.8% State Revenue: $23.6 billion State GDP: $91.8 billion GDP Per Capita: $31233
2. Run by Democrate Dave Freudenthal: Wyoming. Size of Government: 26.6% State Revenue: $9.4 billion State GDP: $35.3 billion GDP Per Capita: $66289
1. Ditched by SARAH PALIN last year: Alaska: Size of Government: 39.2% State Revenue: $18.8 billion State GDP: $47.9 billion GDP Per Capita: $69813
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