Ruling Elite vs. Poor: The Economic Gap Between West Virginians and State Government

This Daily Mail article (from the more conservative paper) made Drudge Report on March 30th highlighting that 1 in 6 West Virginians are on food stamps--an incredibly high percentage! This should be an economic wake up call to the ruling elite in State government and citizens alike, especially with a State that is not bashful about imposing taxes and user fees, and where there are many state employees even making six-figure salaries (see WV Auditor report in right margin of blog)!

This is a good opportunity to consider just how big West Virginia government is, how tax burdensome it is comparatively with other states, and the disparity between the government and citizenry economically. Frankly, the media, while always running stories about the publics' general obesity, never reports that it is West Virginia s government that is outrageously FAT.

Consider the following comparison of West Virginia versus the other states in Total Taxes as a Fraction of Personal Income 2005 data, demonstrating the relative disparity in West Virginia from other states in taxation versus the publics' income. Note especially how West Virginia ranks not only high (top four in high taxation relative to income!), but also higher than the peer states surrounding it, which are highlighted:

State Total Taxes as
Fraction of Personal Income (Nominal)
STATE	2005	Rank
Vermont	0.1102	1
Hawaii	0.101	2
Wyoming	0.0917	3
West Virginia	0.0897	4
Arkansas	0.0885	5
New Mexico	0.0832	6
Minnesota	0.0831	7
Delaware	0.083	8
Alaska	0.0788	9
Louisiana	0.0777	10
Kentucky	0.0771	11
Maine	0.0756
Mississippi	0.0746
California	0.0737
Idaho	0.0721
Wisconsin	0.0715
Michigan	0.071
North Dakota	0.0705
Connecticut	0.0698
Rhode Island	0.0693	20
Montana	0.0692
North Carolin	0.0692	22
Utah	0.0689
Washington	0.0665
Indiana	0.0658
Nevada	0.0658
Ohio	0.0657	27
Nebraska	0.0656
New York	0.065
Oklahoma	0.0646	30
Massachusetts	0.0644
United States	0.0634	32
Pennsylvania	0.0629	33
Kansas	0.062
Arizona	0.0616
Iowa	0.0612
South Carolina	0.0609
New Jersey	0.0601
Alabama	0.0579
Maryland	0.0575	40
Illinois	0.0571
Florida	0.0561
Virginia	0.0561	43
Georgia	0.0555
Oregon	0.0555
Tennessee	0.0543	46
Missouri	0.0527
South Dakota	0.044
Texas	0.044
Colorado	0.0437
New Hampshire	0.041

Source: Query for State and Local Government; Tax Policy Center

clipped from www.dailymail.com One in 6 West Virginians is on food stamps About one in every six West Virginians gets food stamps, the highest level of participation in at least 30 years. Amid rising food and fuel costs, the assistance is becoming worth less and less. And supplemental food programs for poor families are struggling to keep up with the added demand as donations are on the decline. Last month, 274,487 state residents received food stamps. That's up from 246,890 just five years ago, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Resources. A total of 122,877 of the state's estimated 743,064 households currently receive food stamps. That's up from 105,365 households in 2003. Meanwhile, the cost of food is expected to jump by up to 4 percent this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. Nationally, the average cost of a gallon of regular gas today is $3.26, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A year ago, the average cost was $2.59 a gallon.