Minnesota: Paying More Federal Taxes, Receiving Less Federal Spending

Here's an op-ed column of mine that appeared in the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune on Sunday, March 18. I'll put the opening paragraphs here, and all of it below the fold:

"Minnesota taxes: More blessed to give?"
"Minnesota pays its fair share -- and then some -- in federal taxes, while federal spending here is decidedly below average. Why the imbalance?"

The great state of Minnesota rides in a lifeboat with 49 other states, tossed by the wind and waves of global politics and the global economy.

States vary in many ways -- population, size of the state economy, age distribution, industry mix, geography. No one should expect that they will all make the same contribution to keeping the lifeboat afloat.

But still, it's eyebrow-raising to discover that Minnesota is one of the states consistently putting a lot more into the federal budget than it gets back. That's the message when you compare federal taxes paid by residents and businesses within each state with federal spending in each state.