Last updated on 2019-01-15
I learn from Axios (via The Displaced Plainsman) that South Dakota is among the ten states with the highest percentage of its workforce affected by the federal shutdown. The 4,400 South Dakota employees of Uncle Sam who are out paychecks, if not out of work, due to Donald Trump’s addled self-obsession. If all 4,400 of those federal employees went on unemployment, they’d raise South Dakota’s unemployment rate from 2.8% to 3.8%.
The outsize size of the workforce impact of the Trump shutdown on South Dakota’s economy highlights South Dakota’s ongoing status as a red moocher state. The Rockefeller Institute of Government adds up federal wages, contracts, and social programs in each state, subtracts total federal taxes paid by each state’s residents, and finds South Dakota gets $1.15 for each dollar in federal taxes paid. That’s a 1.2-billion-dollar balance of payments to South Dakota, or $1,400 more for each South Dakotan than each of us pays in federal taxes.
Moocher states like South Dakota far outnumber the states paying their own way and their neighbors’. Montana is the biggest moocher on our borders, with a return on each federal tax dollar of $1.49. Iowa wins back $1.13; Minnesota, $1.09; and Wyoming $1.06. Nebraska and North Dakota are trying to make up the difference, taking back only 98 cents and 94 cents, respectively, on each of their tax dollars. The most generous states (or, for my Libertarian friends, the states where we could argue taxation really is theft) are Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. California, which apparently left a sour taste in Governor Noem’s mouth, just beats the breakeven point, which each Californian getting $12 more from the feds than they pay in federal taxes.
On his way out the door, Governor Dennis Daugaard recommended spending $1.74 billion in federal dollars in a $4.83-billion total FY2020 state budget. To make South Dakota a break-even state, receiving no more in federal aid than its residents pay in federal taxes, Governor Noem would have to strike $1.2 billion from that budget plan, 69% of Daugaard’s proposed federal spending, or 25% of the total South Dakota budget.
But would Governor Noem really want to give up over a billion dollars in federal support and add perhaps a permanent percentage point to our unemployment rate?
Related Stats: Federal spending makes up 36% of Daugaard’s last budget recommendation. According to Pew, federal grants on average made up 32.6% of state budgets in FY2016.
Great catch for both. NOem has said NO to Medicaid Expansion, again, so now you know that the dummy is gonna have to raise taxes to offset the losses. Think anyone will remember her lie when it comes to that tax raise?
When will we be having that General Strike to end this trump/republican shutdown?
Blue State California farmers are doing well.
“Although the federal government shutdown could wreak havoc on agriculture in some regions as farmers wait on subsidy payments, loans and data they need to make plans for the spring, things are sunny so far in California.
California growers “are used to operating with limited federal government oversight,” said Joel Nelsen, California Citrus Mutual CEO and USDA adviser. “Here in California, we have such a robust CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) that we aren’t missing the federal government yet.”” https://www.vcstar.com/story/money/business/2019/01/09/government-shutdown-farmers-agriculture-impact/2534015002/
Blue states have Medicaid Expansion and they have governments that can actually work on their own without the handout for the government subsidies. Damn man, maybe republicans ought to figure out how to do business….naw..to easy for us to collect the free money and bitch and moan about the poor immigrants…
Red states bear greater economic pain from the furlough.
Red states bear greater economic pain from the tariffs.
At this point supporting the orange prince became willful stupidity and not willful blindness.
I don’t know many in SD that don’t hate the fact that it’s a “moocher state”. As with people who hate themselves (self loathing) they can’t admit the fact, so they lie. They project their dislike of their own “mooching state” back onto the provider of the federal aid. In short, it’s more mentally stabilizing to hate the Federal government than to hate the state that allows the “massive mooching”.
They can file for unemployment and they will also get paid later for not working.
They are going to double dip.
Wrong again Jason. They will have to pay back any unemployment benefits received when they get their back pay.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2019/01/02/can-get-unemployment-benefits-shutdown/
Vox has 8 charts that lay out Toddler’s Tantrums costs in painful detail, including how it’s hurting red states like SD.
“By Friday, January 11, the shutdown has cost the US Economy $3.6 billion, and the costs will soon exceed the figure that Trump demanded to fund his proposed border wall.”
https://goo.gl/kiRLya
Story in the news today federal workers got a $500 bonus and one day’s pay to tide them over. Not sure if it applied to everyone or anyone.
The number of US citizens who rightfully blame Unbalanced Orangutan for his shutdown continues to increase. 538 checks polls.
https://goo.gl/jWxkYG
Mike, the $500 only applied to TSA folks ‘for holiday work’. It won’t pay the rent/mortgage or food, and may not pay the daycare. The TSA should have a “sick day”. That, or a series of those, will grind this furlough nonsense to a halt.
Thanks, John.
155,000 veterans nationwide are not getting paid, do the the trump/senate catastrophe. Of these, over 50,000 are disabled veterans. In the not so distant past, republican administrations and Democratic administrations, went to great lengths to hire veterans. They had the moniker of “FEDS HIRE VETS” as you will note, the last time this was even updated was during President Obama’s term in office. trump/republican senate, doesn’t care about veterans. They want to make war on NATO, but they don’t care about veterans. https://www.fedshirevets.gov/veterans-council/veteran-employment-data/
The republican of today would rather spit on veterans than worry about their employment or if they get paid or not. If you work the numbers of the 4,400 folks who are not getting a paycheck because of the trump/senate shutdown, then you would figure that at least 800 of your neighbors who defended this country, are without a check for their work.
NOem or the rest of the frauds could give a damn about their plight. Instead, we have a blowhard who grandstands for a wall in our legislature. Shameful, naw, just common practice for these goons.
From the Minneapolis Strib:
Congress is working to end government shutdowns. Madam Speaker Pelosi and Chinless Wonder McTurtle have both said they’ll consider the bill offered by my representative, Angie Craig, D-MN2, Dean Phillips, D-MN3 and other Democratic House freshmen.
“The proposal from Craig and Phillips would shift a shutdown’s financial pressures away from federal workers and services and onto those responsible for the underlying gridlock. In the event of future shutdown threats, the government would be funded at existing levels — and not be shut down — but members of Congress, the president and his top staff would not get paid until a new budget is passed and signed.”
https://goo.gl/TeQKcJ