Redstatebk blue

1215 bak

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/red-states-dominate-top-ten-in-key-indicators-of-sinful-behaviors-while-vermonters-are-the-least-likely-to-commit-capital-vices-study

no lnx

Red states dominate top ten in key indicators of ‘sinful’ behaviors — while Vermonters are the least likely to commit capital vices: study

Written by Alex Henderson February 18, 2020

A recurring theme among far-right culture warriors — from President Donald Trump to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — is that Republican-dominated states represent “the real America” and a commitment to family values while Democrat-dominated states don’t. But a new report/study by the personal finance website WalletHub finds that red states are the most likely to engage in “sinful behavior.”

Although WalletHub’s report wasn’t political in nature, one can draw some political conclusions based on the data. In the survey, WalletHub analyzed all 50 states in the U.S. for “sinful” behaviors that included “anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.” And the ten states most likely to behave in a “sinful” way, according to that criteria, include Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi — all of which went for Trump in the 2016 presidential election and have a strong Christian right presence.

However, the state that made #4 on the list is most definitely not a red state: California. Although California was very Republican-leaning before the 1990s — from Orange County to Bakersfield to San Diego to Glendale and Burbank — it became a blue state during the Bill Clinton years and became even bluer in the 2018 midterms. Orange County, once a hotbed of GOP politics, now leans Democrat. And a Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won California’s electoral votes since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Some swing states made the study’s top ten as well, including Florida (which went for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and Trump in 2016) and Nevada (which Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won in 2016’s presidential election). In fact, Nevada came in at #1 in terms of “sinfulness” — which WalletHub’s Adam McCann attributes, in part, to gambling.

“Red states and blue states may like to point to one another as the source of all that is wrong with the U.S.,” McCann writes, “but the truth is that each of the 50 states has its own virtues and vices. For example, Michigan has the worst drug use problem. And it certainly comes as no surprise that Nevada is the most gambling-addicted.”

Michigan came in at #15.

Meanwhile, Wallet’s list of the ten least “sinful” states in the U.S. includes a variety of blues states (Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Vermont), swing states (Iowa) and red states (Utah, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota). And according to the study, Sun Belt states are more likely to be “sinful” than northern states; most of the states that made the “least sinful” top ten shovel a lot of snow during the winter months.

Vermont, home of Sen. Bernie Sanders, came in at #50 — making it the least “sinful” state in the U.S., according to WalletHub’s criteria.

==

states with the biggest weight problems are:

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. West Virginia
4. Tennessee
5. South Carolina
6. Arkansas
7. Kentucky
8. Alabama
9. Oklahoma
10. North Dakota

The states with the least weight problems are:

1. Minnesota
2. Oregon
3. Vermont
4. Connecticut
5. Montana
6. Utah
7. Massachusetts
8. New Jersey
9. Colorado
10. Hawaii

refers to website itself but also conserv states:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/opinion/despair-american-style.html?_r=0

...

 been a lot of comment, and rightly so, over a new paper by the economists Angus Deaton (who just won a Nobel) and Anne Case, showing that mortality among middle-aged white Americans has been rising since 1999. This deterioration took place while death rates were falling steadily both in other countries and among other groups in our own nation.

Paul Krugman

Even more striking are the proximate causes of rising mortality. Basically, white Americans are, in increasing numbers, killing themselves, directly or indirectly. Suicide is way up, and so are deaths from drug poisoning and the chronic liver disease that excessive drinking can cause. We’ve seen this kind of thing in other times and places – for example, in the plunging life expectancy that afflicted Russia after the fall of Communism. But it’s a shock to see it, even in an attenuated form, in America.

Yet the Deaton-Case findings fit into a well-established pattern. There have been a number of studies showing that life expectancy for less-educated whites is falling across much of the nation. Rising suicides and overuse of opioids are known problems. And while popular culture may focus more on meth than on prescription painkillers or good old alcohol, it’s not really news that there’s a drug problem in the heartland.

But what’s causing this epidemic of self-destructive behavior?

If you believe the usual suspects on the right, it’s all the fault of liberals. Generous social programs, they insist, have created a culture of dependency and despair, while secular humanists have undermined traditional values. But (surprise!) this view is very much at odds with the evidence.

For one thing, rising mortality is a uniquely American phenomenon – yet America has both a much weaker welfare state and a much stronger role for traditional religion and values than any other advanced country. Sweden gives its poor far more aid than we do, and a majority of Swedish children are now born out of wedlock, yet Sweden’s middle-aged mortality rate is only half of white America’s.

You see a somewhat similar pattern across regions within the United States. Life expectancy is high and rising in the Northeast and California, where social benefits are highest and traditional values weakest. Meanwhile, low and stagnant or declining life expectancy is concentrated in the Bible Belt.

==

http://www.alternet.org/print/10-republican-red-states-mooch-coastal-liberal-states

September 17, 2014 |

One of the most hilarious talking points coming from far-right Republicans and the Tea Party is that when “red states” like Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are asked to bail out California or Massachusetts, that’s when they will finally become “fed up with socialism” and secede from the Union once and for all.

The problem with that meme is that it has no basis in reality: the more prosperous and Democrat-leaning areas of the United States are likely to be subsidizing dysfunctional “red states,” many of which are suffering from insufficient tax revenue and an abundance of low-wage workers who don’t have much to tax. Tea Party Republicans like to point out that poor cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Camden, New Jersey are run by Democrats, but they neglect to mention that some of the most affluent parts of the United States—from Manhattan to the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area to Cambridge, MA to Seattle to Chicago’s North Shore suburbs—are dominated by the Democratic Party. People in those heavily Democratic areas pay a lot of federal income taxes, and quite often, their tax dollars go to red states.

Earlier this year, the personal finance website WalletHub.com conducted an in-depth study of the amounts individual states are paying in federal taxes [3] compared to the amounts they are receiving. WalletHub analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Commerce Department and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. WalletHub’s research demonstrates that, as a rule, the states that are the most likely to rail against “big government” are the most likely to be benefiting from it. 

A few of the states in WalletHub’s study that were receiving the most tax revenue from the federal government are states that President Barack Obama won in 2012 (most notably, New Mexico and Hawaii), but most were hardcore “red states.” And most of the states that, according to WalletHub, are taking less from the federal government than they are paying in are “blue states” that Obama won in both 2008 and 2012, including California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Minnesota. WalletHub’s research bears out comparable figures released by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in the past: analyzing IRS data, Tax Foundation has found, more than once, that red states are likely to be the biggest recipients of federal tax money.

Below are 10 red states that take full advantage of the federal government and would be much worse off without the “coastal liberal elites” they love to complain about.

1. Mississippi:Mississippi is one of the most Republican states in the U.S.: Republicans dominate the state government, and not since Jimmy Carter’s victory in 1976 has a Democrat carried Mississippi in a presidential race. “Fiscal responsibility” is a recurring theme in Mississippi politics, where Democrats are often characterized as people who couldn’t balance a budget if their lives depended on it. Yet the reality is that Mississippi is one of the most blatant examples of a state receiving more federal tax money than it gives [4]: WalletHub finds that for every dollar in federal taxes Mississippi pays, it receives $3.07 from the federal government. A 2007 report from the Tax Foundation [5] found that Mississippi was receiving $2.47 from the federal government for every dollar it was paying in.

The fact that Mississippi has a hard time making ends meet without help from Washington, DC stems from being a so-called “right to work” state, meaning it has a very low rate of unionization and plenty of low-wage jobs. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country, and Republican policies in that state—hostility to unions, opposition to raising the minimum wage at either the federal or state level, tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans—will likely keep Mississippi from being a substantial contributor to federal income taxes.

2. Alaska:Alaska didn’t become part of the U.S. until 1959, and since then, it has gone Republican in every presidential race except 1964 (when Alaska favored Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry Goldwater). A bastion of hard-right politics, Alaska is the state where Sarah Palin was elected governor in 2006. But when it comes to “small government,” Alaska Republicans don’t practice what they preach: according to WalletHub, Alaska receives $1.42 from the federal government for every dollar it contributes. Tax Foundation’s research showed Alaska receiving $1.93 from Uncle Sam for every dollar paid in. Alaska Republicans love to rail against the federal government, but the reality is that Alaska needs federal tax revenue badly [6] in order to function.

Alaska is infamous for its harsh winters, which put considerable wear and tear on the state’s infrastructure—and the money for that much upkeep and maintenance has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is Boston, Santa Monica, Brooklyn, Seattle and all the other places that are full of upscale Democrats Palin considers “un-American."

3. Alabama:Like Mississippi, Alabama is a state that hasn’t given a Democratic presidential candidate its electoral votes since 1976. Alabama is one of the most Republican-dominated states in the U.S., and it is also a state that is very reliant on the federal government. According to Wallet Hub’s study, Alabama receives 37% of its revenue from the federal government [7] and receives $3.28 for every dollar it pays in federal taxes. Tax Foundation’s data showed Alabama receiving $2.03 in federal tax money for every dollar it was paying in.

There are ways in which Alabama could become less reliant on Washington, DC: raising the minimum wage and having a more unionized workforce would generate more income tax revenue. So would raising income taxes on Alabama’s 1%. But Alabama is a so-called “right to work” state, and a workforce that is generally underpaid and overworked isn’t going to generate a lot of federal income tax revenue.  

4. Louisiana:In Republican-dominated Louisiana politics, it is fashionable to bash “big government liberals” who live in San Francisco or New York City. But when Louisiana Republicans do that, they are biting the hands that feed them. According to Wallet Hub’s research, Louisiana receives $3.35 from the federal government for every dollar it pays in; 44% of Louisiana's funding, WalletHub says, comes from Washington, DC.

Louisiana, under Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, is another “right-to-work” state, and a state with so many underpaid workers is naturally going to have a lot less income to tax. So instead of hating the “limousine liberals” in Seattle or Boston for voting Democrat, Louisiana Republicans should thank them for all the federal income tax revenue they are getting from them.

5. Indiana:When Barack Obama won Indiana’s electoral votes in 2008, it was an anomaly: Indiana, which went Republican in every presidential election from 1968-2004, is one of the most conservative states in the Midwest and is much more Republican than Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois or Michigan. Pundits have often said that when it comes to politics, Indiana is “more southern than the South.” But the disdain that Indiana Republicans often express for “big government” rings false because according to Wallet Hub, Indiana receives $2.01 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it contributes and receives 33% of its funding from Uncle Sam. Indiana Republicans can hate coastal Democrats all they want, but without the federal tax revenue Democratic areas generate, Indiana would have a hard time functioning.

6. Montana:Montana has a long history of going Republican in presidential elections. Between 1952 and 2012, Montana went Republican in every presidential race except 1964 and 1992. But for a state that is so conservative-leaning, Montana receives a lot of help from the federal government: WalletHub’s research shows that Montana receives $1.55 from the federal government for every dollar it contributes (the Tax Foundation’s 2007 report found that Montana’s intake from Uncle Sam was $1.92 for every dollar paid). Montana faces the same challenge as Alaska—long, harsh winters that can put considerable stress on its infrastructure—and the idea that Montana could function without tax revenue is pure fantasy.

7. South Carolina:The fact that South Carolina hasn’t gone Democrat in a presidential election since 1976 is a badge of honor to the state’s GOP. And Republican Gov. Nikki Haley once boasted, “I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country.” But that is nothing to be proud of, especially in light of the fact that non-union workers tend to have lower wages and therefore, contribute less tax revenue. The Tax Foundation found that South Carolina was receiving $1.92 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it was contributing.

Haley doesn’t think much of liberals, but considering that Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota and New York State—all of which Obama won in both 2008 and 2012—aregiving more tax dollars [8] to the federal government than they are receiving, she might want to reconsider and start thanking them for their help.

8. West Virginia:Although West Virginia presently has a Democratic governor (Earl Ray Tomblin) and has a Democratic majority in its state senate (most of them center-right Blue Dogs), it is still a conservative-leaning state with a strong Republican influence. Republicans have carried West Virginia in the last four presidential elections (Mitt Romney won 62% of West Virginia’s vote in 2012), but that doesn’t mean that the state doesn’t receive a lot of help from the federal government: WalletHub described West Virginia as a state that receives $2.22 in federal tax revenue for every dollar it pays, and the Tax Foundation’s figure in its 2007 study was $2.57 received per dollar paid.

Poverty has a lot to do with that: West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country, with 17.6% of its population living in poverty from 2008-2012 compared to 14.9% nationwide (according to the U.S. Census Bureau). And with so many West Virginians living in poverty, they simply aren’t going to be a major source of income tax revenue [8].

9. Tennessee:One of the ludicrous talking points from Republicans is that the poor aren’t paying enough taxes. Actually, the poor do pay a lot of taxes, from sales taxes to taxes on utilities. But according to Republicans, the poor are freeloaders because they aren’t paying enough federal income taxes—and one way to balance state budgets, they cluelessly argue, is to cut state services and raise state taxes on the poor. Republicans flunk math, however, because someone making $7.25 an hour is going to have a lot less to tax than someone making $30 or $40 an hour. And therein lies the budgetary problem for a so-called “right-to-work” state like Tennessee: too many of its residents are working low-paying, non-union service jobs that generate a lot less sales and other state tax revenue than the unionized jobs Republicans are so bitterly opposed to. Tennessee, according to WalletHub, receives $1.64 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it contributes—and WalletHub notes that 41% of Tennessee’s funding comes from Uncle Sam.

10. Kentucky:Kentucky, despite having a two-term Democratic governor (Steve Beshear), leans Republican: although Bill Clinton won Kentucky’s electoral votes in 1992 and 1996, that state has gone Republican in every other presidential race since 1980. Mitt Romney carried Kentucky by 22% in 2012, and many of the Democrats who hold office in the Bluegrass State are center-right Blue Dogs. But as widespread as talk of “small government” and “fiscal responsibility” are in Kentucky, WalletHub’s research shows that Kentucky receives $2.39 from the federal government for every dollar it pays. According to WalletHub, 35% of Kentucky’s revenue comes from Washington, DC. And the Tax Foundation found that Kentucky was receiving $1.75 [9] from the federal government for every dollar paid.

lcv 2013:  Lowest Senate Delegations:

Wyoming 0% · Oklahoma 4% · Idaho 8% · Kentucky 8% · 

Utah 8%

Senate Scores below 10:

Florida Rubio Idaho Crapo · Risch Kansas Roberts Kentucky 

McConnell ohio Portman oklahoma Coburn · Inhofe 

Pennsylania Toomey South Carolina Scott, T. South Dakota

Thune Texas Cornyn Utah Hatch · Lee, M. Wisconsin Johnson, 

R. Wyoming Barrasso · Enzi

Lowest House Delegations:

Wyoming 0% · Arkansas 3% · Alaska 4% · Idaho 4% · Montana 

4% · Nebraska 4% · North Dakota 4% · South Dakota 4% · 

Kansas 5% · Oklahoma 6% · Utah 9%

House Scores of 0:

Alabama Bachus, S. · Bonner · Roby · Rogers, M. Arkansas

Griffin · Womack California Calvert · Campbell · Issa · LaMalfa · 

McCarthy, K. · McKeon · Miller, Gary · Nunes · Valadao Florida

Buchanan · Crenshaw · Mica · Rooney · Southerland Idaho

Simpson Illinois Schock Indiana Brooks, S. · Walorski · Young, 

T. Iowa King, S. Louisiana Cassidy Maryland Harris Minnesota

Kline, J. Mississippi Nunnelee Missouri Emerson North Carolina

Ellmers · McHenry Ohio Johnson, B. · Latta Oklahoma Mullin 

Oregon Walden Pennsylvania Murphy, T. South Carolina

Rice Tennessee Black, D. · Blackburn, M. · Roe Texas Barton · 

Conaway · Farenthold · Hall · Olson Wyoming Lummis

chart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/06/19/red-states-rank-low-on-u-s-human-development-index/print/

alec (not defin)

• Arizona (PFAW/CC) (*supplemental*) (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now) *NEW* 2013 (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now/AWF)

• Florida (Progress Florida/ PFAW/CMD/Florida Watch Action/CC)

• Iowa (NEW!) (Progress Iowa/ CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now)

• Maine (Maine's Majority Education Fund)

• Michigan (Progress Michigan/ Michigan Citizen Action/CMD/CC/PFAW)

• Minnesota (Common Cause)

• Missouri (Progress Missouri)

• Nevada (NEW!) (Progress Now Nevada)

• New Hampshire (Granite State Progress) (*supplemental on "Right to Work for Less"*)

• New Jersey (PFAW/CMD/CC/Progress Now)

• Ohio (CMD/Progress Ohio/PFAW/CC)

• Pennsylvania (Keystone Progress)

• Texas (Progress TX/CMD)

• Utah (PFAW/CC/Alliance for a Better Utah/CMD)

• Virginia (Progress VA)

• Wisconsin (Center for Media and Democracy)

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/secrets_of_the_conservative_media_machine/

RedState.com was launched in 2004 as a **527** **political action committee**. In 2005 the name was changed from RedState.org to RedState.com "to create a for-profit entity that could accept advertising."^[1]

In mid-December 2006^[2], the "conservative community group site announced it had agreed to be purchased by Eagle Publishing, the parent company of Human Events, Regnery Publishing, Evans-Novak Political Report, the Conservative Book Club, among other movement conservative publishing enterprises."^[3]

Personnel

The following are listed as corporate officers by RedState Network:^[4]

• Erick Erickson, CEO
• Clayton Wagar, CFO
• Mike Krempasky, President and Founder^[5]
• Ben Domenech, Director and Founder

Contact information

Weblog: http://www.erickerickson.org/blog/

Web: http://www.redstate.com

Web: http://www.redstatenetwork.com

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

• bloggers
• Jeff Emanuel

References

1. ↑ William Beutler, "Let The Eagle Soar: Behind The RedState Acquisition," Blog P.I., January 17, 2007.
2. ↑ Robert B. Bluey, "RedState, Eagle Publishing Join Forces," Human Events Online, December 20, 2006.
3. ↑ William Beutler, "Let The Eagle Soar: Behind The RedState Acquisition," Blog P.I., January 17, 2007.
4. ↑ About, RedState.com, accessed August 6, 2007.
5. ↑ Krempasky.com website.

External articles

• RedState in the Wikipedia.
• "RedState Blogger Boosts Wal-Mart For Bucks," PR Watch, September 21, 2005.
• Matt Stoller, "Redstate Racists," MyDD, February 7, 2006.
• "Domenech's defense distorted apparently plagiarized column," Media Matters for America, March 24, 2006.
• Ben Domenech, "Ben Domenech Resigns," Red America Blog/Washington Post, March 24, 2006.
• "RedState.com falsely claimed McCain 'confirmed' on *Hannity* that he was heckled by CNN's Ware," Media Matters for America, April 10, 2007.
• redstatehatemonitor, "REDSTATE a perfect example of Hypocrites in Denial," The Daily Kos, July 7, 2007.

Categories:

• Right wing
• Blogging and Bloggers
• Politics (U.S.)
• Elections (U.S.)

WaPo Driving the "Right"

The Washington Post has hired Ben Domenech, co-founder of the conservative *RedState.com*, to write a new daily blog on its website called *Red America*, Editor & Publisher reported March 21, 2006.

"After a stint as chief speechwriter for Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx.), he co-founded [RedState.com] and became a book editor at Regnery Publishing, where he worked with Michelle Malkin and others," E&P wrote.

"Almost immediately the liberal blogosphere exploded with outrage over Domenech's hiring by the Post. But by Thursday bloggers had more than ideological reasons to oppose the Post's move, as he plagiarized film critic Stephanie Zacharek, and Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing about television," Joe Conason reported in Slate March 24, 2006. "As a college student Ben Domenech lifted arts criticism; as a GOP henchman, he was accused of fabricating a Tim Russert quote."

Dan Froomkin "has spent a decade at the Post, and also worked for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register. Froomkin is also deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University," E&P wrote.

"Whatever Froomkin's political views may be, he is a veteran reporter with a long résumé of newspaper jobs, including a decade at the Post. Domenech is a partisan operative with no newsroom experience of any kind, no training in journalistic standards and ethics, and nothing to guide him except home schooling and Republican reflexes," Conason wrote.

• Utah (R + 30.768)
• Idaho (R + 27.018)
• Wyoming (R + 26.132)
• Nebraska (R + 22.606)
• Alaska (R + 20.946)
• Oklahoma (R + 20.567)
• Kansas (R + 16.892)
• North Dakota (R + 16.484)
• Alabama (R + 15.162)
• Texas (R + 14.920)
• Mississippi (R + 12.766)
• South Dakota (R + 11.920)
• South Carolina (R + 11.230)
• Montana (R + 9.668)
• Kentucky (R + 9.408)
• Indiana (R + 9.398)
• Georgia (R + 6.814)
• North Carolina (R + 6.086)
• Tennessee (R + 5.228)
• Arizona (R + 4.990)
• Louisiana (R + 4.824)
• Virginia (R + 3.252)

(combined 2012 Electoral Votes: 198)

sued on health care: