Nobody really thinks blue states shouldn't pay in. It's a statement about the hypocrisy of net-taker red states being anti-tax and anti-government.

Someone, who shall go nameless, actually posted the following. Don't pretend they don't exist.

It's a perfect example of exactly what I was talking about. It's a statement about blue/red state politics, not a demand for a policy change. It's basically, "Fine, you want to whine about taxes, we'll stop subsidizing you." No one believes that's ever going to happen in the real world.

people actually post stuff like that because they ACTUALLY THINK IT'S TRUE.

i think most people know it's not, but way too many think it is true.

some people are just ignorant. there were a ton of people posting that if you posted a sign saying you didn't have to serve Muslims, it was okay, you just needed to post that sign.

Have a good evening.

and if you actually were able to find the adjacent posts, you would actually know that others in the thread understood that the state couldn't really withhold taxes, but THAT PARTICULAR did NOT grasp that.

than they pay in taxes.

I live in New Mexico, which is mostly a blue state. We get more money from the feds than we pay, but that's because we have three air force bases, plus White Sands Missile Range, Sandia National Labs, and Los Alamos National Labs. So there's a lot of federal payroll here. Meanwhile, all the people who work at those places spend money locally and yes, pay federal and state taxes themselves.

Another on-going debate in this state has to do with tax rebates to movie and TV productions. (Think Longmire or Breaking Bad) New Mexico has become very popular with that industry for any number of reasons, but our recent Republican Governor, Susana Martinez thought that was a terrible idea, and was able to get the legislature to limit the tax rebates. Oddly enough, TV and movie production fell.

We now have a new Democratic Governor, Michele Lujan Grisham, and the limit has been raised considerably, and a back log of tax rebates is being paid off.

TV and movies employee a lot of local people in all manner of jobs. Santa Fe Community College even has a degree program in the field. This is a relatively poor state, and such employment is a genuine boon.

A couple of years ago I took a temp job with a local water supply company, one that sells bottled water, will install water dispensers in your home or business, that kind of thing. I was amazed to see how much they distributed to specific movie or TV productions. And that's just one small business. It really made me appreciate how much TV and movie production brought to this state.

if you create a whole industry in your state for it, the rebates can make sense.

obviously, don't give away the store, but New Mexico is a poorer state that could benefit from new industry.

understand that the tax rebates are only a fraction of the revenue generated in payroll and the many, many things purchased. Like the water I referenced above.

Another example. Some years back a friend had a job driving the courtesy car for a local motel, one that was at the time largely occupied by cast and crew of some show or movie. She was driving them around, was paid local minimum wage (which in Santa Fe is well above the federal minimum) and earned tips. Again, she was just one small part of the overall picture. The motel booked rooms they otherwise wouldn't. The cast and crew ate in local restaurants. They probably bought various other items on the local economy.

A tax rebate become trivial.