Oil's Well That Doesn't End Well For This Oil Well, Part 5

Dana Milbank at the WaPo expands on the subject of my rant over the weekend at Steve M's place:  boy, red state Gulf Coast politicians suddenly want all the big, invasive monolithic government taxpayer help Washington can give them to deal with this very real threat to their economies.

All these limited-government guys expressed their belief that the British oil company would ultimately cover all the costs of the cleanup. "They're not too big to fail," Sessions said. "If they can't pay and they've given it everything they've got, then they should cease to exist." But if you believe that the federal government won't be on the hook for a major part of the costs, perhaps you'd like to buy a leaky oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

It may have taken an ecological disaster, but the gulf-state conservatives' newfound respect for the powers and purse of the federal government is a timely reminder for them. As conservatives in Washington complain about excessive federal spending, the ones who would suffer the most from spending cuts are their own constituents.

An analysis of data from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation by Washington Post database specialist Dan Keating found that people in states that voted Republican were by far the biggest beneficiaries of federal spending. In states that voted strongly Republican, people received an average of $1.50 back from the federal government for every dollar they paid in federal taxes. In moderately Republican states, the amount was $1.19. In moderately Democratic states, people received on average of 99 cents in federal funds for each dollar they paid in taxes. In strongly Democratic states, people got back just 86 cents on the tax dollar.

If Sessions and Shelby succeed in shrinking government, their constituents in Alabama will be some of the biggest losers: They get $1.66 in federal benefits for every $1 they pay in taxes. If Louisiana's Vitter succeeds in shrinking government, his constituents will lose some of the $1.78 in federal benefits they receive for every dollar in taxes they pay. In Mississippi, it's $2.02. 

The ironic thing is it not only took this disaster to remind not only Gulf Coast governors and senators that the federal government has a very real place in protecting America from negligence of companies like BP, but that it also was necessary to remind Village insiders like Milbank that the federal government is actually run by competent people who want to help Americans as well.

The fact that it's red states collecting federal taxpayer money from blue states should have been the absolute first response by the Village to the Tea Party idiocy, dismissing them wholesale.  instead, folks like Milbank gave in to the romantic view of these "brave patriots" standing up to a "tyrant usurper".  Hey, it sells copy.  Newspapers aren't in the fact business, they're in the news business.  There's a difference and it's a pretty damn big one.

Still, that's a start for Milbank and the Village.  They are going to be key to putting this idiocy to bed.  Unfortunately the Village itself seems to be equally eager to pin the blame for this on Obama as well.  That's going to be a real problem down the road, as I fear this disaster is going to be with us for months and the effects for years.

(On a personal note, I want to thank Steve for letting me play over in his backyard this weekend again.)