PeterG wrote:I am struggling with some (but not most of) your thinking.
I thought I detected an edge in your comments. Good to know. Thanks for being honest.
Let me back up a second and better explain what I was trying to say in that quickly spouted post.
Over 50% of people who live in New York City receive some kind of government support. Some of that is housing subsidy. Smaller amounts in welfare and SS. Things like that. I am not just talking federal. I am talking state and local. Although they do pay in a good bit, NYC is spending more than it is taking in with taxes.
Here is an interesting page with lots of details.
https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_state_ ... d_finances
It may be that the state is offsetting some of the costs of NYC. If so, that further shows that many of the big cities are not standing alone but drawing on others in state to support them. California has the same issue. Most the large cities have deficits. When a city is running a deficit, they are spending more than making. Most the time it is because there is a lot of subsidies the cities pay out.
California cities do similar. There are a lot of subsidies and government handouts in CA cities. If a city has a deficit, they are spending more than taking in and it has to be made up somehow. Often the state is subsidizing the city. If the state is, than rural citizens are paying for the cities so the state deficit will balance. This is what I was trying to get at.
Because over 50% of people who live in cities are dependent on some form of government assistance, they will most likely vote for the groups who promise to maintain or increase these policies. This is why
I think the national map looks like this:
People in the cities are pro bigger government because they are used to government helping them. People in the rural areas are used to government taking from them or being almost non existent.
I am sorry, but I do not believe the DNC really cares so much about immigrants that they are pushing to take care of them. I think they see it as a new voting block to grow their party. I don't think the RNC cares about the rural people so much either. I think they see it as a strong voting block. I think the RNC plays the game of demonizing the big city liberals as much as the DNC demonizes rural people as baskets of deplorables, holding onto their bibles and guns.
It is very hard to vote for less money in your pocket. Most people are short sighted and do not look at the big picture about costs.
I think I told this story here once, but will state it again to make my point. I broke my arm a few years ago. I went to an orthopedic surgeon. he thought I needed to have it pinned. I said it was going to cost more then just wrapping it. He said, "Well you have insurance." He knew I was on Medicaid. I said, "Well someone has to pay for it." He looked at me strangely and then agreed that was true. I told him to just wrap it up. He did. It healed just fine.
My children are the same way. They have money, but will not spend their own money easily. Yet, when we go to the store, they are always asking me to buy the things they want. When I tell them to spend their own money, they 90% of the time decide they really do not need/want it so much.
It is always easier to spend other people's money. When the government taxes on and gives to another, this is what is happening. Most people receiving help will vote to keep it going. Most people being taxed to give will vote to stop it. By looking at the county by county map, it is easy to see that most of the 50% that voted democrat are city people. Most cities have a high rate of subsidies and support going to a good portion of their populace.
I have not taken time to look up Chicago, but NYC and several large cities in CA are doing this. They are spending more than they are taking in. Someone is paying for that, or will pay for that. Detroit went bankrupt and the state had to step in. Guess who paid? The rural people who have been outvoted by city people who kept voting for more free stuff.
This is not a new issue. Humanity has done this type of thing for a while. The strong often take from the weak. I see this as a continuation of that trait. Over time, if leveling mechanisms are not in place in a society, the gap widens to a point that the weak revolt. I see this election of Trump as a small revolt. I see that driving his election as much, if not more, than his wonderful presence. The rural people banded together and voted in a bully to do their fighting. We will see if that is a good strategy. It seldom works out well.
