Who you vote for largely determines who you think contributes the most to the federal budget.
In recent years politics has been dominated by questions of how to control federal spending, with Republican leaders calling for significant cuts to federal spending - cuts which Democrats have largely opposed. States that voted for Barack Obama are, on average, net contributors to the federal budget while states that voted for Mitt Romney are net beneficiaries. The average 'blue state' has paid in $7,102 per capita to the federal budget in the two decades since 1990, while the average 'red state' has received $30,051 per capita.
The latest YouGov research shows that 31% of Americans believe that Obama-voting states receive more than they contribute from the federal budget, compared to 20% who believe that they contribute more than they receive. This is very divided along partisan lines, with Republicans (43%) being much more likely than Democrats (11%) to say that these states are net beneficiaries of federal spending.
Figures are largely reversed when asked whether Romney-voting states are contributors or beneficiaries. 32% of Democrats believe that 'red states' are net beneficiaries, with only 11% of Republicans agreeing.
The largest overall contributor to the federal budget has been New York, which has paid in around $1 trillion. The largest recipient is another 'blue state', Virginia, which raked in $592 billion.
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