Guess Who Represents the State That Receives the Most Federal Tax Dollars?

As you know Republicans Boehner and Cantor represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in Congress and both are staunch deficit reduction advocates.  Or at least that’s what we’ve come to understand from their past actions and speeches on the topic.  And already Boehner has stated that if the automatic budget reductions go into effect now that the Super “Dud” Committee has come up with zip, he will not countenance any reductions in Defense Department funding.  According to both Cantor and Boehner the continued strength of American armed forces is just too important.

Well let’s take a closer look at their rhetoric.  Virginia is basically divided into two political camps – Northern Virginia (the Washington Suburbs) is very liberal while the rest of the state is fundamentally arch-conservative.  (To get a feel for the schizophrenic state of Virginia affairs, never forget that Jerry Falwell and his media empire is headquartered in Lynchburg, VA - NOT a DC suburb.)  It’s a bit like New York State – liberal democrats downstate while upstate is very conservative.  Of course NY doesn’t have the ever-present legacy of the Civil War like Virginia which only means that feelings downstate in VA a bit more entrenched than in upstate NY.

While both Boehner and Cantor unveil their patriotic stripes when bellowing against cuts to Defense spending, the real motivator, in this instance, is much closer to what you might expect from these two Tea Party stars.  It’s money.  Federal Money as it turns out.  Prosaic, perhaps, but the truth. Both Cantor and Boehner go on and one about the state’s low unemployment rate (6.5% currently) and the number of jobs they’ve created and the vibrant economic health of Virginia.   What they forget to mention is that Federal Government largesse is the reason for Virginia’s healthy economy. Federal Government expenditures (your tax dollars) in Virginia total 38% of the state’s Gross Domestic Product, more than any other state in the union.  Plus, Federal Procurement Expenditures (direct purchases for goods and services by the Federal Government) in the state are 20% of ALL federal government expenditures. Average for the rest of the states?  3.8%  Plus, one county, Fairfax (DC suburb) receives about $25 billion annually in Federal procurement expenditures. It’s safe to say that Virginia’s economy is dependent on our tax dollars for its health. No other state in the union receives as much in Federal funds. 

So, for two arch-conservative, small government, no tax Republicans, doesn’t it seem a bit odd to you that Boehner and Cantor would be leading the charge for cutting government spending since without it Virginia’s economy would suffer drastically if such cuts actually took place?  Well, fool me once or twice, but what both are advocating are cuts in SOCIAL SPENDING, you know, food stamps, unemployment compensation, education grants, etc.  I mean we all know this, but when you factor in the amount of our tax dollars that flow to Virginia, wouldn’t you think that Boehner and Cantor would be just a bit more circumspect in their criticism of “out of control” Federal spending? 

And just in case you didn’t know it, the great Commonwealth of Virginia is at the bottom of the list of states when it comes to Federal grant funds for education, law enforcement and health care.  (I thought Mississippi or Alabama took this honor, but I was wrong.)

So it is ideologically OK (pure) to take our tax dollars when it’s is siphoned through Lockheed Martin ($16.7 billion in Federal contracts in 2010), Northrop Grumman ($11 billion), Boeing ($10 billion) and Raytheon ($6.7 billion) but when it comes to help for the poor, medically indigent, the unemployed and those other lazy, good for nothing human beings that live in Virginia, Federal tax dollars are a perversion of free market economics? 

Yeah.  Kind of blows your mind doesn’t it?