Against Government, Yet Cashing The Checks

A brief Alaska snapshot to put the anti-spending Governor Palin in context:

Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2 1/2 times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska’s government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it.
. . .
As if it couldn’t support itself, Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

This should include the $223 million federal transportation earmark money–originally designated for the bridge to nowhere–which Palin kept.
I’m not surprised to see some of the biggest beneficiaries of government spending railing against the public sector. I hear it all the time in East Tennessee. It’s ironic once you consider the list of the area’s largest employers:

U.S. Department of Energy – Oak Ridge Operations

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Knox County Public School System

Covenant Health

St. Mary’s Medical Center

University of Tennessee Medical Center

City of Knoxville

County of Knox

Clayton Homes

State of Tennessee, Regional Offices

Seven of the largest ten employers are government-related. Add TVA, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and all the highway spending to the mix and it becomes clear that government spending fuels this region’s economy.
But bashing government institutions sure makes for a good sound bites.