The Price of Civilization_ Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity - Jeffrey D. Sachs [34]
There would also be many fewer disagreements if the electorate was helped to be better informed. Many studies and surveys have found that the public often has very little knowledge of the specifics of income distribution in America, and how public policies can actually affect it. Americans greatly overestimate federal spending on “giveaway” programs such as foreign aid or “welfare” for poor families (now known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). They often see these programs as a dominant part of the budget, when in fact they constitute a very small fraction of spending.
One of the greatest and most interesting confusions involves the real burdens and benefits of federal taxes and transfers. The red states of the Sunbelt tend to be the great opponents of federal taxation and spending, no doubt partly the legacy of southern resentment of federal rule. The residents of these states generally don’t realize, however, that they are the leading net beneficiaries of today’s federal taxes and transfers. The millionaires and billionaires live in the blue states—California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey—and their income taxes support the Medicaid, disability, and highway programs of red state residents.
As we can see in Table 5.1, precisely those states in the lead of attacking federal programs are the ones that would cut off their own livelihoods and well-being if the federal government were to shut down. The table ranks states according to the federal spending each state receives per dollar of federal taxes that the state’s residents pay to Washington. A ratio greater than 1 signifies that the state’s residents are net recipients of federal spending paid by taxes of other states, while a ratio less than 1 signifies that on net the state’s tax payments are going to the benefit of the residents of other states. Of the ten largest net-recipient states, Obama carried only two, New Mexico and Virginia, in the 2008 election. Of the ten largest net-paying states, Obama carried all. The paradox is that the states that currently lead the anti-tax revolt are actually the largest net recipients of federal spending. This is a fact that their citizens do not understand.
Table 5.1: Federal Spending per Dollar of Tax Payments, by State
Source: Data from the Tax Foundation (2005) and CNN Election Center (2008).
Toward a New Consensus
At first appearance, America is hopelessly divided. Yet, on a closer view, what unites Americans is still greater than what divides us. Our politics feel divisive not because of a raging battle in middle America but because there is a vast gap between (1) what Americans believe; (2) what the mass media tell us Americans believe; and (3) what politicians actually decide, no matter what Americans believe. Even with their differences according to region, class, race, and ethnicity, Americans are generally moderate and mostly generous in spirit, though the media tend to emphasize and even promote the extremes. And the politicians vote along with the rich and the special interests. We thereby end up with a very biased view of our own country. America can be much better than it is today if public policies begin to follow American values, not the values that corporate-driven media pretend to be American values.
For that to happen, though, the public will have to exercise a new and higher level of political responsibility. Special interests dominate our politics not only because they have more money but also because much of the general public has disengaged itself from public deliberations. Yes, the politicians and corporate interests typically strive to keep the public in the dark, but much of the public allows this to happen by not working hard enough to stay informed.
CHAPTER 6.
The New Globalization
Globalization has been