I'll just leave this here.
 

so naturally you're giving kudos to Romney for speaking the truth while not worrying about alienating his base!

Romney's base was in that room w/ him... everyone else just doesn't like Obama.....

based on that chart, most of Romney's base couldnt afford to be in the room with him!

So what does this tell us, Red states vote mostly on social issues and not economic?

Likwid, it stands to reason that a high percentage of non-payers are in the South, since a high percentage of poor people are in the south.

What do you think you proved here?

Yes, TX has some folks who are poor and don't pay taxes. And I'll bet my life that a huge majority of those folks (people in TX who pay notihng and are on the dole) support Obama.

You proved that there are, in fact, poor people in red states. In similarly shocking news, scientists announced today that water is wet.

People on the dole who pay no taxes will lean left, regardless of what state they live in.

Now, if you want to show me that a majority of people who pay no taxes are registered Republicans, then you may be on to something.

Jim, this data is important though and you COULD make a similar argument that you and I have made against liberal states/cities. Why do they keep voting democrat when their cities continue to declince, etc?
You could argue that these states are voting for failed republican policies, resulting in their poverty. I dont think the argument holds water, but it could be made based on the chart.
One thing the chart doesnt show is how much these states pay towards the Fed govt. Texas for example pays a TON to the fed govt. so you can imply there are a lot of people with $$$ paying taxes and another % not making $ and thus not paying taxes.

I think this chart shows that red states vote mostly on social issues and not economic. So republicans score high in religious areas of the country. I also think this data will change significantly in 10 years if it hasnt changed already as blue states lose industry and populations migrate south. This is happenning in CA and will continue.

A lot of ignorant god fearing evangelical racists live in the south too
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define alot? As a %, very, very, very small. The population is much more diverse in the south. Look at the % of race in southern vs. northern states. Much more racial harmony in the south. In the north you're mostly white.

A few things that are interesting about this chart.

Thing 1) The states with higher non-fed-tax-payers align roughly with the same states who consume a greater % of Federal dollars per person.

Thing 2) The % of non-fed-tax-payers doesn't appear to corrolate in any meaningful way with the usual arguments of state taxes, debt, regulation etc... as job killers.

-spence

As a wise man once said:

"One day, I hope I'm rich enough to be a Democrat."