Michelle Malkin's Bogus Articleon the Red States

I came across this article by Michelle Malkin: http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000839.htm

She says the red states are the most "giving" states, and the blue states the least, all the while discrediting the IQ list that has been floating around by showing the bogus one that has MA at a 113 IQ.

Of course, she isn't considering the new valid IQ data: http://heartheissues.com/e2004-6-intelligenceiq-2.html

Nor the fact that the red states are in fact the biggest tax leeches: http://heartheissues.com/federalfunding.html

I emailed her pointing this out, she has HUGE readership, if anyone else wants to drop her a line about it, cool, maybe we can get her to actually ammend her story: malkin@comcast.net

She's not as oderous as Ann Coulter, but she's pretty hard core. SHe is pushing internment camps as a viable strategy to the "Muslim Problem." And Articles about how great the Red States are right now are going to be pretty common.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

Truth is nothing to those people. Have you ever heard a pundit correct him- or herself? EVER?

The best you can hope for is to irritate them.

I think the IQ thing is kind of silly; how can you really put a number on someone's intelligence? But as for the tax imbalance, either the red states pay more than the blue states or they don't. Where's the argument?

Ok... she has this "generosity index" which is quite a bit different from the taxes we've been talking about.

The Generosity Index, compiled by The Catalogue For Philanthropy, is for real. It is computed by taking each state's average income and average charitable contribution, then subtracting the second rank from the first to get a single number for each state.

On the face of it, coming up with two separate rankings, then subtracting one from the other, is not a valid way of making a new ranked list. The raw data need to be manipulated, then there should just be one ranking at the end. I'm not sure how using the right statistical method would affect her conclusions.

Anyway, the point that's been circulating among liberals has nothing to do with voluntary personal charity. It has to do with mandatory federal taxes, which overall flow from blue states to red states.

I'd call it theocratic taxation. (I assume Utah ranks high on her 'generosity index.')

also, the cost of living in the Northeast is tough on middle class families who pay big mortgages (the housing market here is outrageous). I doubt there is much money to give away after taxes.

Utah is eighth on the list. The other high-ranking states are mostly part of the southern Bible Belt.

And really, should "generosity" count for anything when their money's probably going to things like...

-ex-gay ministries
-Operation Rescue
-Pat Robertson

etc.?

Also, if you watched Laurnce O'Donnell (sp) the guy pointed out on MSN last eve that the Blue states income through taxes goes to provide welfare for the Red States. Sickening. All but three of the Red States are net takers from the Blues States.

I'd like to see her spin that -- the winger was developing tics fending off O'Donnell's.

i'd like to see it too

I dont mean to piss anyone off, but I am tired of hearing about this RED STATE VS BLUE STATE! And who has what IQ and who gives the most! I have been all over this great country of ours and I can tell you that I have met some great people, who are caring and extremely intelligent, and I have met some who are not so kind and are, well lets just say uneducated! Alittle of both from both RED & BLUE states. We are all Americans, red or blue.... Black or white, rich or poor, Dem. or Rep. This country will never come together as it needs to, until we all stop looking at our differences, and start looking at our commonalities!

Yesterday was Vets Day, and all I heard the mainstream media talking about was the TERRORIST Yassar Arafat. Yes they did do some tributes to our nations Vets, but why even give him any air time on a day when we should be doing nothing but thanking and praising our countries HERO'S! I am a US Army Vet, I served in the first Gulf War and in Somalia, and I can only speak for myself, but I was offended.

Part of the divisiveness comes about because of the electoral college system. If we picked the president via popular vote, we'd have red people and blue people instead of red states and blue states.

The map we see at every presidential election makes it hard to avoid such comparisons of states.

But... Blue people in Red states, we salute you! :)

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Looking at public school quality, high school and college graduation rates, test scores and other quantitative info is more realistic. MA and CT consistently have the best public schools, highest graduation rates, and more kids going on to college than any other state. Most of the Blue States are in the top 10.

Wealthy Republicans from all over the country send their right-wing kids to school in the Northeast. If things are so awful here in the Blue States, why do they dump their kids on us?

and they buy property here because it increases in value and they vacation here because it's beautiful. Other than that, they hate us.

The claims (mostly fallacious) regarding the intelligence of the various states' electorate are assessments of voter intelligence, not school kids. Voters are adults. How many graduate rocket scientists stay in Bumfuck, Utah? When kids from the Ozarks succeed in high school and college, they don't wind up voting in the Ozarks. They typically find themselves in "blue states" I'd wager. I'd say income is an indirect measure, but not really as strongly correlated as a graduate degree or some post-graduate work. Too many 'trade' training degrees count as baccalaureate degrees. Call me a snob, but I never encountered a BA in Business Administration who could think their way out of a piss-soaked paper sack.

Even if it is accurate, there is only a 12 point spread in IQ by that data. If you throw out the top and bottom there is only a 10 point spread. At that particular spot on the curve a 10 point difference is not that big a deal.

Also, in the top 25 of the list, there are 13 red states and 12 blues.


Some day, I will understand how calling people stupid is supposed to win them over to our beliefs. But then again, since I am in a red state maybe I am just not smart enough to ever understand the logic behind this argument.

She's a complete hack. Thanks, but no thanks.

Let's not forget, she is the one who went on Chris Matthews claiming that "people" said Kerry shot himself on purpose. And when Matthews doggedly confronted her and tried to get her to just come out with it (a true shining moment for Matthews), she didn't have the guts to. She kept saying "people said," which, of course, they hadn't said.

She is another right wing nut job ala Coulter and Hannity.

And like Coulter and Hannity, the truth is immaterial to the point being made. It's all about whipping up emotion, hate, and fear.

I think she'd got that part down.

absolutely accurate.

There is something special about Delaware and Iowa! Delaware is the dumbest state to vote with the smart people. What does that mean? That they are best with using the limited intellect they have?

And what's up with Iowa? The smartest state to vote with the dumb people? Maybe they are so smart they see through all the smoke screen cultural issues and just voted for red state welfare, tax cuts and farm subsidies.

iowa was VERY close though, so it really could have gone either way.

That's what she called herself back in her innocent college days, if I remember correctly...