I've posted before about the curious phenomenon of areas that pride themselves on "small government" and "self sufficiency" nonetheless being happy to rake in giant piles of government money, more, in fact, than they put into the system.
At the moment, our state budget is stalled out due to our foolish supermajority rule, and the recalcitrance of the Republican party as buoyed by this rule. I am far from a partisan for the Democrats, but I am frustrated at the willingness of our state's Republicans to commit organizational suicide rather than reach reasonable compromise.
Now, the SF Chronicle is reporting on a review of state income and spending that was commissioned by Assemblymember Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa, which shows, briefly, that our self-reliant 'conservative' counties are pulling down a disproportionate share of state government money.
Marin County was No. 1 in contributions, at $4,793 per person, and San Francisco was No. 3 at $3,578. Modoc was No. 2 in consumption at $2,216 per person, and conservative Tulare was No. 1, with $2,223.
"I don't think voters in the conservative counties understand the connection between the service they are receiving and the votes their representatives are making," Evans said. "Maybe the layers of government are so convoluted that many people don't realize how it works."
Ms. Evans has hit the nail on the head here, as the misunderstanding of the link between money paid in and services received is at the heart of the problem (as I've discussed previously). Note that as the SF staff writer tells us, it's not an issue of 'dumb Republicans' in these areas, either:
The prevailing attitude among the right-wing ranchers and modern hippies who define Modoc County is of fierce self-reliance - but more people here than just about anywhere else depend on welfare checks of some kind to get by.
It is, instead, the difficulty in understanding that money in yields services out, and that these services are critical to our communities existing as we want them to.
In Modoc, the way it works is that if the cuts being proposed go through, near-catastrophe will reign, said County Administrative Officer Mark Charlton.
He said the entire road maintenance service would be closed except for snowplowing on a few main roads, the welfare-to-work CalWORKS program would be cut in half, many mental health patients would no longer be monitored and would relapse and wind up behind bars, and there would be fewer police patrols.
"You'll be able to translate these cuts into more accidents on the road, more people in jail, more people getting sick," Charlton said.
Right now, counties like mine are funding counties like this - and I am glad we are, because I want my fellow citizens to have good roads, appropriate medical care, and opportunities that will lead people out of poverty and into rewarding work. I understand that my money in yields these things, and that is why I am happy to pay taxes for these purposes.
There are no road faeries, nor are there school or hospital faeries. If we do not pay in for these services, they will disappear, and people will suffer. It's unfortunate that some citizens of the state don't realize that they are those people.