The takers and the makers. It isn't what you think. Why?

Edited and updated: April 28, 2020
Published by Winter Park Times, May 7-8, 2020 https://winterparktimes.com/opinion/columnists/the-takers-and-the-makers-not-what-you-think/
The takers and the makers...It isn't what you or the Tea Party-like folks think. An Atlantic magazine analysis has been updated in 2017 though the analysis was first done in 2014. The red states are the takers of the blue states ' federal taxpayers' money.  Per the article, "There are various ways of thinking about what a 'state dependency' map cited in the article tells us. One approach is to shine a light on the red-states-as takers paradox: Dominated by Republican voters who profess their distaste for the federal government and its social programs, these are the very states that rank highest on the dependency index." This is how Business Insider handled the story: "As it turns out, it is red states that are overwhelmingly the Welfare Queen States. Yes, that's right. Red States—the ones governed by folks who think the government is too big and spending needs to be cut—are a net drain on the economy, taking in more federal spending than they pay out in federal taxes. They talk a good game, but stick Blue States with the bill." https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-states-are-givers-and-which-are-takers/361668/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR1Scz2tEi0lNIQfem3uJawCg8TqJ-eewY9YTmOpQ25BZUATLD4QxoEMzrY
By any measure in the article, Colorado is a maker state, among the lowest tier of states taking federal taxpayer dollars.

     Why are some states takers, not makers?  Simply looking at the various maps and statistics, what pops out is that most of the taking states are red and southern.  The Atlantic conclusion is correct so far as it goes.  The Atlantic article did not go into any detail, but I agree the importance of who holds political power in Congress does play an important role. The Atlantic article places the blame on  Congress members frequently re-elected from safe seats, gaining seniority, and controlling committee chairs. True. They have brought in the pork to their home states.  I have some theories of how this has happened.  More House safe seats have been carved out by rampant gerrymandering, permitting frequent re-election of incumbents and seniority in the House. In the Senate, those from safe seats rule committees and their GOP chairs often hale from the South. For example, Kentucky is in the top ten of the taker states and it is the 4th poorest state in the union.  Ironically,  Kentucky Sen. GOP Majority leader Mitch McConnell, who controls Senate majority votes and committee chairs, is not considered an ideological friend of spending of social programs or making it easier to vote.  Also from Kentucky is Sen. Rand Paul, a libertarian who generally opposes federal spending on social programs. He is much valued in a close vote. Governance of state governments also plays a role. Regardless of ideology, it has not kept Kentucky from being in the top ten takers.  New Mexico and some others ranking high on the poverty list have high native American and Hispanic populations. Many others have large African-American populations.   Often these states are governed by legislatures and governors who are white and conservative and uneager to share power. 
      One more paradox in makers and takers comparisons,  racism is a factor, but not as the racists believe.  More white people get government assistance than any other group of minorities, including African Americans. https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/blog/finance/welfare-statistics.html
Food stamp recipients, in particular, are more white of percentage,  than of a minority race.
   Diving deeper into the issue of political control, there are some underlying factors.  The kinds of economic activity states generate may play a role. However,  with few exceptions, there is also a strong self-perpetuating connection in the South with the poverty rate of the taking states and the percentage of racial minorities, poor health care, and voter suppression. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/race-and-blame/609946/     https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-affecting-people-of-color    Because of poverty, their needs exceed the will and ability of their state governments to provide so they demand and need federal help.  Many of these states have not expanded Medicaid to their poorer citizens when they had the opportunity under the provisions of Obamacare, keeping the poorer sicker and more expensive to treat. Voter suppression tactics,  making it expensive and inconvenient to register and get transportation to vote, and stringent requirements for government-issued picture IDs from non-drivers,   keep minorities at a political power disadvantage in getting their part of the economic pie. 
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-states-are-givers-and-which-are-takers/361668/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR1dykQ8kFVoryZ34mclzcjsIKx-qNX-dQMi9RoW0wg7b_lGIblYFIvLlUQ

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Wikipedia

The average gross monthly income per food stamp household is $731; The average net income is $336. 37% of participants are White, 22% are African-American, 10% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian, 4% are Native American, and 19% are of unknown race or ethnicity.    

      

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/nov/07/which-us-states-hardest-vote-supression-electio

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/coronavirus-vulnerable-cdc-145303772.html

 https://www.google.com/search?q=states+with+highest+poverty+rate+2020&rlz=1CCEAQE_enUS811US811&oq=states+with+highest+poverty+rate&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/states-by-race/

https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/

https://www.governing.com/topics/urban/gov-majority-minority-populations-in-states.html

And is that even the correct way to frame the question?

THEATLANTIC.COM

Which States Are Givers and Which Are Takers?

And is that even the correct way to frame the question?

John Boehner's and the Pope's Balancing Acts: Boehner's act fails; the Pope succeeds

Circus balancing acts nearly always succeed. It they do not, performers do not stay long in the business.  Politics is another story. Last week saw balance take a back seat to extreme views when House Majority Leader John Boehner threw in the towel, foreseeing a collision with a forty  member Tea Party caucus wanting to hold hostage the functioning of government to a single issue.  Pope Francis with great delicacy delivered messages in person to the American people and Catholics in a way that would make a tight rope walker proud.

In past eras, the middle, the balance between poles, was once the substance of the business of governing.  It is rare now when balance works and often imbalance is cheered by partisans holding less than a majority vote when they roll over their opposition without having themselves to budge an inch or take a political penalty at the ballot box.

Boehner quit, he said, to save the institution of Congress. He probably meant that Congress was structured to force compromise. I suspect another reason was that he wanted to come to the aid of the Republican Party.  Most right wing Tea Party members of his GOP Congressional caucus were protected from political repercussions by representing safe districts with constituents who agreed with them. The Tea Party had failed to get their way on defunding Planned Parenthood when the House votes were counted.  Never mind federal laws already prevented federal funds from being used for abortions. They cared little if their actions would deprive the service of any federal dollars to provide other low cost women’s health services.  They threatened to block approval of the entire federal budget, resulting in shutdown of government services.

Boehner had been there, done that. In 2013, the GOP dominated House engineered an actual shutdown for two weeks over a single issue, defunding Obamacare.    The result: The economy took a $12 to $24 billion hit. The GOP got the blame in spite of their attempt to cast blame on a stubborn President.  Polls showed Americans believed the GOP was responsible over Democrats 39 percent to 19 percent.

In order for Boehner to stop this government shutdown, he would have had to draw on Democratic votes, an anathema to Republican extremists.  They had attacked Boehner in the past for relying on the enemy and Boehner was facing some very contentious moments if he did it again. Clearly he was just tired of it and he, humming “ Zip-a-dee-doo dah”, quit.

On the other hand, Pope Francis was last week’s balancer in chief, giving pronouncements on his visit to the US about what he considered to be the moral course on critical governmental issues, some of which warmed the hearts of conservatives with his family focus, and cheered liberals with issues such as caring about income inequality, humane treatment of immigrants and refugees, caring for the poor, and global warming.   While he did not propose legislative directives of “thou shall or shalt not” to Congress, he urged compromise and dissed extremism. Nonetheless, he made his points without adding to the political polarization he so deplored. Perhaps the Pope inspired devout Catholic  Boehner to turn his disgust with extremists into the action he took. 

The edited version appeard in the Oct 1, 2   2015 Sky Hi Daily News www.skyhidailynews.com

 http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/congress-approval-rating-government-shutdown-098657#ixzz3n2M1Juop

If Obama is viewed as a failure, then the GOP Congress is viewed as more of a failure.

GOP candidates claim the Obama administration is a “failure.”  A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll concluded, though, that the American people were “fed up” with Washington, and they were 20% more fed up with Congress than they were with President Obama.  If Obama is viewed as a failure, then the GOP Congress is viewed as more of a failure.  

If the measure is how much Obama achieved of his own agenda, the answer is most of it has been successful.  His major failure so far is not passing comprehensive immigration reform, not from lack of trying.  Most of his domestic accomplishments, such as economic recovery and health care reform, were enacted before the obstructionist Tea Party took over the House.  Perhaps the greatest success Democrats had was keeping the economy from going over the brink into another Great Depression, using passage of stimulus spending and tax cuts and also clever fiscal policy.  The unemployment rate is now back to pre-crash levels, and the economy is showing a 3% growth rate.  Austerity measures (which the GOP pushed for the U.S., too) are threatening to force Europe into recession or deflation, and also into continuing high unemployment.

The GOP Congress still wants to repeal Obamacare, but offers no alternative, no workable way to pay for covering preexisting conditions, and has no plans to make it more affordable for 30 million Americans. 

Gardner, ranked as the 10th most conservative member of Congress and opposing Mark Udall for Senate in Colorado, wants to repeal Obamacare.  Obamacare ends discrimination against higher women’s premiums, and it also covers birth control and cancer screenings.  Gardner also pushes federal laws that not only criminalize abortion from the time of conception, but cripples in vitro fertilization, bans IUDs and some other birth control methods, and Gardner wants women to pay out of their own pockets for the few over-the-counter methods left that are legal.  (Ending Obamacare ends insurance coverage of the pill, too.)  All federal laws, including Obamacare, are already currently forbidden from covering any abortions, so that's not happening.

Armageddon as predicted by the GOP did not happen to Obamacare (ACA).  More signed up for coverage and paid premiums than forecast.  Early indications are that 2015 average premiums within exchanges will show little change from 2014.  The American Medical Association in their July journal found that the ACA is successfully working as designed.  Medicare cuts?  No traditional coverage was lost, and 14 years were added to the life of Medicare.

Energy policy?  The GOP Congress wants to ditch environmental protection laws to boost energy production.  However, while protecting the environment, Democratic “all of the above” energy policies, including promoting alternative energy sources, have permitted the U.S. to become the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and the U.S. will begin having enough oil production very soon to begin exporting. Gardner is still denying humans are responsible for global warming against the proof provided by scientists held in high esteem in the field.

Ebola?  We should not forget that the GOP congressional budget priorities were to reduce funding to the CDC.  Officials confirmed this caused a slowdown in the search for vaccines.  The president's choice for Surgeon General has also been blocked by the GOP members of Congress, which is why a "czar" had to be chosen to provide some guidance and continuity during this time.

Promoting the middle class?  The GOP congressional policies cut Pell grants, oppose decreasing interest rates on student loans, and oppose raising the minimum wage or furthering equal pay for women in the workforce.

For more, visit www.mufticforumblog.blogspot.com

http://kff.org/private-insurance/report/survey-of-non-group-health-insurance-enrollees/

http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-july-2014/

http://www.denverpost.com/election2014/ci_26665118/republican-cory-gardner-defends-conservative-record-senate-bid

America's Fed Up: Obama Approval Rating Hits All-Time Low, Poll Shows - NBC News
  "The frustration carries over to the nation’s political leaders, with President Barack Obama’s overall approval rating hitting a new low at 40 percent, and a mere 14 percent of the public giving Congress a thumbs up."

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/16/us/politics"  Yet, congressional Republicans are viewed more negatively than congressional Democrats.....

Congressional Job approval ratings

Approve

Disapprove

No Answer

Congressional Republicans

Congressional Democrats

19%

70

11

30

61

9

Despite the Republican advantages over all, Americans continue to broadly disapprove of congressional Republicans even more than congressional Democrats. "

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/do-people-really-think-obama-is-the-worst-president-since-wwii.html/?ref=YF
http://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org/blog/detail/modest-price-increases-in-store-for-second-year-of-online-marketplace
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/13/1336238/-NIH-Director-Budget-cuts-delayed-Ebola-vaccine-nbsp-treatement#

Boehner and McConnell fall on swords to stop Tea Party bitten by amnesia bug

This past  week, John Boehner, House Speaker  and 27 of his fellow Republicans, fell on their swords to aid their party  when they joined with Democrats   to raise   the debt ceiling  with no strings attached and to block  Tea Party  threats to shut down the government again. The Senate then passed the legislation on a party line vote, though  enough Republicans led by  minority leader Mitch McConnell,  voted to break  the filibuster rule requirement of 60 votes. The GOP leaders realized the Tea Party must have been bitten by the amnesia bug.to try to repeat their last fiasco and other failed strategies.   

Last fall,  Boehner let the Tea Party have their way and the GOP did shut down the government. The  political backlash   was so severe , Republicans  even feared they would lose seats in the 2014 midterms and set up another Democratic win for the White House in 2016.   The GOP was  saved by   the bungled roll out of Obamacare, charges the President’s” lied” about keeping insurance,   and a budget deal.

That Boehner’s action risked  his  speakership and Mitch McConnell gave fuel to Tea Party opponents in his upcoming primary  shows that the Tea Party has   nearly   completed their takeover  of the Republican party.   In Colorado,  traditional  business oriented Republicans are only bystanders in a battle between the Tea Party Express and local ultra conservatives   to see who can endorse the most conservative candidate to take on Democrat Sen.  Mark Udall in November.  Similar battles elsewhere   guarantee that Democratic candidates for state houses and  Congress in blue and purple states will have an advantage in facing  the most extreme opponents who will have problems  pivoting to the center to  appeal  to moderate middles in the general election.  

This year the situation is different . The web site works. As of February 1 nearly 14  million are already covered by Obamacare (3.3 million through the exchanges; 7 million through Medicaid expansion and  3 million young adults on parents’ policies).  An estimated 60% of the  5 million losing individual insurance have found other insurance policies or qualified for cheaper ones.. By the 2014 mid terms, the administration  projects    six  million will have signed up through Obamacare  exchanges. .  The Tea Party still is adamantly advocating  total repeal and no replacement. All those  benefiting  by November 2014  will not look kindly on candidates wanting to take away their newly acquired affordable  insurance coverage.

The Tea Party’s domination of the GOP will also help  Democrat’s chances of holding onto the Senate since key states with large Hispanic populations swung  blue in 2012  by their  disaffection with the GOP’s perceived hostility, Colorado included..   Thanks to Tea Party fanatics in Congress, Boehner was forced to back down from any compromise or even a piecemeal approach to immigration reform this year.

The Tea Party  continues to  alienate  unmarried women, a must win voting block.   Anti choice platforms and  Insults  continue, the latest by former  Gov. Mike Huckabee who opined   women wanted the pill  because they could not keep their “libido” under control.   The GOP ‘s repeal  of  Obamacare would   eliminate  Obamacare  standards  that prohibit  higher  premiums  for women  or covering  mammograms  and birth control pills sans  co-pays. Since women comprise much of the minimum wage workforce, GOP opposition to raising it is one more  turnoff.

The ABC's of Minority Rule. How did the Tea Party pull off the shutdown and can they do it again? They did, can, and are.

  Is defunding or delaying the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, worth shutting down the government?  Polls are showing 72% of Americans do not believe it is.   The polls were   taken before the marketplace exchanges were opened October 1  that gave  consumers a  hands on chance to separate fact  from GOP fear hyping fiction. Many consumers liked what they saw.  In the first three days of a six months enrollment period, 10,000 opened accounts  to get insurance  with the Colorado administered exchanges.

 A  minority  group of around 40 Tea Party  House members were able to engineer the shutdown. How did they pull it off and  can they do it  again?  Thanks   to the Hastert rule and gerrymandering they did,  can,  and are . They are adding to their  surrender terms by refusing to increase the debt limit. Failure to raise the debit limit  threatens  to undermine   our nation’s economy  by   leading to  default on  payments for bills already obligated and  due .

  The 250 furloughed BLM , National Park,  federal conservation, and Forest Service employees are only some of the victims in Grand County. Their families lost buying power. Businesses  had also  hoped the last days of the tourist season, fall colors and elk rut viewing, would bring in some money  but the tourist season’s end  is already upon us.

 If the entire House of Representatives had been  allowed to vote, a   resolution to reopen and fund the government without  defunding the ACA  would have  passed right away. However  a  minority group in  the GOP caucus,  the Tea Party, was   determined to use the strategy of linking the issue of  continuing to fund the  government to  defunding or delaying the ACA. This  kept any “clean” bill, one  without reference to  the ACA,  from being  voted upon  by  the entire House. How far they will go on the debt limit threat is yet to be seen.

 One culprit that allows this to happen    is a rule of  the  GOP caucus in the House of Representatives, the Hastert Rule.  Unless the majority of the House GOP caucus agrees, a bill will not come up for a vote of a whole House . This rule  keeps   a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats from joining together to vote  for  a bill a faction of the GOP opposes.   GOP Speaker  John Boehner  chose to   invoke the Hastert Rule, some observers charge, because if he did not , the Tea Party would keep him from   being  re- elected Speaker again.   

  Another  culprit is the recent  redistricting process   that  enabled state legislatures dominated by the GOP   to gerrymander Congressional district boundaries  to make more districts overwhelmingly Republican in a general election.  These “safe” districts mean that any  member of the GOP running for Congress  who does not follow  the Tea Party’s line  could face a challenge from them  in a primary battle.  The implied or real  threat was enough to give the Tea Party additional votes of House members  who may not have  been in 100% agreement with a shutdown,  making the Tea Party the majority in the House  GOP caucus.

Knowing in advance that the Senate Democrats and the President would stop or veto any bill that   defunded,  delayed  or sabotaged the ACA , the House GOP controlled  by the Tea Party  continued sending  bills to the Senate with those poison pills and the threat to shutdown the government. Failing to bully the President to ditch the ACA,  his signature piece of legislation,  they then tried to   divide their opposition by offering to fund   a few popular programs, including reopening national parks , while excluding   other federal agencies, including some in Grand County.   To open the government for all services and agencies,  a vote by the entire House is all that is needed.