Following up on my recent posts regarding the lousy deal King County taxpayers are getting from the state ($0.62 back on every dollar paid) compared to the astounding bargain enjoyed by Washington’s Republican-leaning counties (an average of $1.40 on the dollar), I thought it time to drive a stake through the heart of at least one widely believed myth: that generous benefits to the urban poor comprise the single largest drain on our state coffers.
Well, according to the absolutely irrefutable chart above… um… not so much.
Yes, in 2008, King County benefited from the largest chunk of Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) expenditures, over $1 billion, or nearly 24 percent of the statewide total. But King is home to 29% of the state’s population (while providing 42 percent of state revenues), so its per capita benefit comes to only $538, right along the lines of the other five “donor” counties. Meanwhile, such bastions of rural self-proclaimed self-sufficiency as Adams, Ferry, Pend Oreille and Okanogan counties consume per capita DSHS benefits of over $900, while Yakima—Washington’s “fruit basket”—tops the charts at $1,029 per person.
To put this dependency in perspective, 83 cents of every dollar Yakima sends to Olympia is paid back in DSHS benefits alone, while tiny Ferry County actually receives more in DSHS benefits than the total revenues it pays to the state! That’s in addition to schools, corrections and everything else. Really….
Now that’s a picture of dependency if I ever saw one.
To be clear, I’m not making a moral argument here. I’m not advocating for cutting off the rural poor from the health and social services that help sustain them. I’m merely pointing out that, eventually, they will be cut off, because that’s where a disproportionate amount of our state government costs lie, and thus that’s where the savings are to be found.
Unless, that is, our fellow Washingtonians in the red parts of the state take these charts seriously, and start voting their own self interest.
Time to dial back the subsidies to the Welfare Queen Counties.
Awesome post, Goldy.
Please forward to the Legislature and Governor, stat!
What would Reagan say? Time to end welfare as we know it.
These are fascinating charts, I’d love to eventually see something like these for the other major services as well (education, corrections…) It’d also be interesting to see the actual populations of these counties as well. Yakima and Ferry counties are going to be majorly different.
This is good stuff Goldy. I wonder how this can be stated in a way that resonates with the electorate.
I’m in total agreement about what you’ve been posting Goldy. I think it’s time we give the conservatives what they want. Watch the “rugged individualists” who live in Alaska wail and moan when their federal subsidies (highest in the nation, per capita) are cut off.
We’ll build big roads to connect the big cities, and maybe high speed rail, but if you live in an “unsustainable” area, economically, MOVE.
Of course what will happen when we do that is the “red” folks will bitch and moan about the gov’t even more. It’s a complete tautology/closed loop for these folks. Government is inefficient and wasteful, so let’s cut off all the revenue, and then gov’t can’t do it’s job, which proves gov’t is inefficient and wasteful.
But at least if we do that the blue states/counties/cities can look after our own.
@1, it’s good to see you come out in your true colors and vigorously demand an end to welfare benefits for Indian tribes, who make up a very large percentage of the beneficiaries in Yakima and Okanogan counties, et al. And the unemployed mill workers in Grays Harbor. “Fuck the poor”, that’s your motto, isn’t it?
@6:
Simple. Let’s get Eyman to start a initiative drive directing that all tax monies collected by the State of WA MUST be spent in the county in which they’re received. They’ll flock to that like lambs to the slaughter.
Blame Eyman.
Twitter will get him too.
YO GUYS: LOOK AT A MAP OF INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN WASHINGTON STATE.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/geodata…
CHECK IT OUT MAN. FERRY, OKANOGAN, YAKIMA, GRAY’S HARBOR. GUESS WHO’S GETTING THOSE DSHS $$$$. GUESS WHO IS PROBABLY NOT VOTING REPUBLICAN AND PROBABLY NOT VOTING AT ALL. GUESS WHO THE STATE SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE DEPRIVING OF THE PALTRY AID THEY EVEN RECEIVE.
This should be published on the front page of the Centralia Chronicle, the Columbia Basin Herald, the Colville Statesman Examiner, the Longview Daily News, the Omak Chronicle, the Tri-City Herald, Wenatchee World, the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, the Yakima Herald-Republic, etc., etc., as well as forwarded to the Washington State Republican Party and the Washington State Tea Party.
You said you would, and you did. Way to follow through! A fine piece of analysis.
Any chance you can get stats showing how much those counties donate, per capita, to charitable causes? You’d have to control for behemoths like the Gates Foundation here, but I’d be interested in seeing if they walk any piece of their talk. Do they even support the poor amongst them through their churches? Or do they just expect us to take care of all of it????
@11, I wouldn’t make the assumption that they’re not voting, and if they’re not, then they should. Voting counts, whether you do it or not.
Yes, reservations. But also Yakima and other counties have huge numbers of migrant workers (documented or not isn’t part of the issue). Start making farmers pay realistic wages and yes, we’ll pay for it at the grocery, but minimum wages aren’t just for restaurant and retail.
See, @16 has the underlying truth.
A lot of people who vote Republicant also hire illegal workers and stiff them.
Republicants are always blaming others for what they themselves do.
@11,
The reservations don’t explain away this disparity. According to Census stats, Adams County has only 3.3 percent Native American Population, compared to 1.8 percent statewide, yet remains near the top of the list…. Columbia on 1.2%.
So while reservations may distort the numbers in some counties (or they may not… I don’t have stats on DSHS benefits to tribal members), they’re far from the largest part of the story. Nor should it matter if they were. They’re still people, and they still live within the counties.
I agree with what you’re saying, Goldy, but the phrase “absolutely irrefutable” always looks fishy.
the cycle jcricket refers to is the case, but the “red” politicians already know that – and they’ll keep pouring the money in even as they decry the government spending – it’s no different at the federal level where of course the senate is heavily skewed to small-population/rural red states with the same number of senators as NY or CA and the same taxes out/benefits in imbalances.
This is outstanding work and powerful evidence of the hypocisy on the Right. However, it wasted if dies a quiet death on the Slog. This information needs to be seen by those that recite same old rhetoric re: taxes and self-sufficiency.
@ 21, please excuse the typos, too painful to let go. Read: However, it is wasted if it dies a quiet death on the slog. Write, edit, then submit; I’m still learning.
Goldy is racist towards the tribes.
If they only rode fixies, then, maybe then, could these benefits be justified.
This chart explains quite a bit more than that: conservatives live in counties with lots of welfare recipients and, understandably, believe the state is being bankrupted by welfare.
You wouldn’t want to sneer in their face, “yeah! and look whose counties has the highest rates of TANF and section 8!” because they know that. Instead, you want to politely point out “it’s not the same way elsewhere in the state.”
IMO.
Great post, just like all your analysis hear. Really glad to have you over here on the slog these days.
Like you say though, these graphs aren’t necessarily illustrating that certain counties are welfare queens as @1 suggests. Its perfectly normal for certain populations to subsidize others.It also isn’t a rural vs. urban debate necessarily. Nearly half the population of Yakima county lives in the city of Yakima, not quite as urban as say, Seattle, but certainly not rural.
I think the real question is how can we make sure that our social safety dollars are being leveraged as efficiently as possible and are working to catalyze economic self-sufficiency as quick as possible.
I few other further analysis suggestions:
1) How have these figures fluctuated over time?
2) What are the per capita GDPs coming out of these counties? (IOW, what are the proportional economic benefits we receive for these state subsidies?)
The comment by courner gets to the heart of the matter: Republicans hate all the welfare-state symptoms because, well, they see lots of the welfare-state symptoms.
I have family in Yakima. You tell them that Yakima County recieves a larger portion of tax dollars than other counties due to all the poor folks and their welfare, and they will sagely nod their heads and say “Told you so.”
Then they’ll tell you (yet again) that it’s because of all the illegals.
See, they (my conservative kin) don’t like it any more than you do. And they point the blame, right or wrong, right back at you (you liberals) and your evil welfare programs. The welfare programs that the mexicans and other illegals are lining up for.
They see the same data, but they arrive at a different conclusion. The conclusion that jives with their political views.
@26: Yes, but if it is true that illegals take a disproportionate amount of the welfare dollars, then isn’t it simply because of the low wages they receive for their jobs? Which are arguably necessary to keep the agriculture industry afloat?
How would it be any different if they were legal workers?
@11,15 You know that reservations are sovereign nations, and therefore not properly part of the counties they are located “in”, right?
Yes, our regions recognized tribal members are eligible for DSHS services but they are governed by different law, agreements and policy. While this does not preclude the costs of those services from appearing in Goldy’s data by county geographically, it is much more likely those funds are in different reporting set and not included in this analysis at all.
Goldy, please do a matching comparison to see not how these counties voted, but their financial contributions, and in particular their I-1053 contributions.
Ok, three points:
1) Yeah, but have you ever BEEN to Ferry County? There’s not exactly Microsoft and Boeing over there, jobs are pretty scarce. I’ve been there. I’ve been to all 39 counties. There’s not a lot going on in Ferry County.
2) Coun…ties with non-mechanized agriculture like Yakima, Grant and Skagit have a lot of undocumented immigrants receiving food stamps. Washington DSHS doesn’t pry too much about immigration status before handing out food stamps. I’m ok with that. Morally, I think people picking my apples shouldn’t starve, regardless of what their passport says. Contrast this with Whitman County where the vast majority of crops (wheat, lentils) are harvested with mechanization and there’s nary a migrant worker around.
3) Those two “grains of salt” aside, this is an excellent post, AND, not only are these “red” counties getting more than their fair share of DSHS benefits per capita, they routinely vote NO on school levies knowing that King/Pierce/Snohomish/Thurston taxpayers will make up the difference in school levy equalization funds.
Ok, three points:
1) Yeah, but have you ever BEEN to Ferry County? There’s not exactly Microsoft and Boeing over there, jobs are pretty scarce. I’ve been there. I’ve been to all 39 counties. There’s not a lot going on in Ferry County.
2) Counties with non-mechanized agriculture like Yakima, Grant and Skagit have a lot of undocumented immigrants receiving food stamps. Washington DSHS doesn’t pry too much about immigration status before handing out food stamps. I’m ok with that. Morally, I think people picking my apples shouldn’t starve, regardless of what their passport says. Contrast this with Whitman County where the vast majority of crops (wheat, lentils) are harvested with mechanization and there’s nary a migrant worker around.
3) Those two “grains of salt” aside, this is an excellent post, AND, not only are these “red” counties getting more than their fair share of DSHS benefits per capita, they routinely vote NO on school levies knowing that King/Pierce/Snohomish/Thurston taxpayers will make up the difference in school levy equalization funds.
Liberals scream to TAX THE RICH.
Washington State taxes the rich counties.
Then Liberals in those counties scream like prison bitches….
Uhmmm. Does the outcome of that chart include treaty obligations to the Yakima area? Because if it does, well … whose land are you living on?
They voted in overwhelming margins to not raise taxes without an impossible 2/3rd majority in congress, and to not entertain an income tax idea on people who have much more than they’ll ever gain in their lifetimes. That’s not to excuse government in all this, but rural counties will live with the consequences of increased crime without any backup system to take care of the clear and present danger some of these people will become without food, water or shelter. They’ll blame it on god, how these people are just born this way and we’d be better off killing them, until some bleeding heart liberal who actually read the bible and disposes it so he can help his fellow dying man.
There is absolutely no hope in this system of governance, so many people take the, “I’ma get mine at the sake of yours” attitude. If they aren’t going to learn that consequences have actions, I feel better off exploiting them so that I can live that American fantasy they’ll never get watching Oprah reruns on their iPad 20 device that hooks right into your brain and deals such massive amounts of addictive chemicals directly into the nerves in the brain that they become mindless zombies who just give me lots of money because I created a problem for them to solve. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Yakima is a horrible place. I was born there and I hope to never return. It isnt just the desolate feeling, the unforgiving drug and sex trade, the pollution, the cold people and the sheer poverty, It’s the gnawing feeling that everyone there is doomed, that nobody is looking out for you and in fact, people are actively trying to harm you for self interest.
Don’t cut funding, but I have no idea what anyone could do to make that place better.
@7,16,28
Great idea. Let’s stop building roads to farm communtities and start paying migrant labor $45 an hour.
That will REALLY help the poor eat well, to put the price of an apple or a loaf of bread or corn at 3 or 4 times it’s current price!
See, Seattle benefits from the sensible side of the state in a lot of ways Goldy doens’t include here. They might put his numbers into context, and he wouldn’t want anything like reality to intrude on his elitist fantasies.
Cheap electricity, water and taxpayer built roads mean that wheat and corn and fruit come to Seattle markets at very fair prices. Agricultural products shipping out of Seattle ports help make Washington among the healthiest balance of trade states in the nation.
Those evil people exploiting cheap immigrant labor mean that everything here costs less. It’s called the free market. Your house costs less because of lower skill but lower cost immigrant labor. The food in the market, many of the products that are produced in this country and so on all cost less because of lower cost labor. I bet not one of the moralizing libs here avoids Target or Walmart though. I bet all of you shop chain stores rather than local vendors. Put your money where your mouth is, or kindly keep quiet.
Those kids you elitist Seattle folk educate at your own expense (so say you) mostly come here to work using the education they were provided. Yes, Seattle may pay more for education than the rest of the state, but the labor market here disproportionately benefits from the educated workforce it provides.
All those nice vacation cabins at Chelan and Cle-Elum? How do the nose in the air Seattle liberals get to their country cottage without the road to them, fire departments to protect them, and Sheriff’s deputies to keep them from being burglarized?
So you know what Goldy? I get that you’re an elitist ass who hates Eastern Washington. What I don’t get is why you should think anyone in Eastern Washington cares.
Poor Seattleblues… “When the facts don’t support you, pound on the facts. When the law doesn’t supports you, pound on the law. When neither support you, pound on the table.”
Goldy,
You need to improve your journalist skills:
a) The data is two or three years old and much has happened over the last few years – get more recent data!
b) Post your source data so we can verify – we have no idea what you’re charting from.
FYI, Yakima is home to a large Latino population that picks your fruit for very low wages . . . you’re not sounding very progressive
We should end the welfare state because it clearly leads to Republicanism, i.e. the transfer payments of the entrepreneurial coasts to the muddled middle is the same phenomenon. And to the loudest Republican states, Texas and Alaska, are beholden to oil.
We should end the welfare state because it clearly leads to Republicanism, i.e. the transfer payments of the entrepreneurial coasts to the muddled middle is the same phenomenon. And to the loudest Republican states, Texas and Alaska, are beholden to the largesse of the oil industry.
Poor Cynical,
Liberal rhetorical default position- ‘When you can’t argue a fact, attack the person who presents it’. The Socialist State of Seattle really does benefit by what taxes pay for in the rest of the state, whether the arrogant denizens of the region understand that or not.
In related news a pallid person dressed in Berkenstocks and a tie dyed shirt was arrested at an organic coffee shop in Seattle for jumping up on a table and shouting ‘I hate Eastern Washington’ repeatedly and refusing to stop when requested to by other patrons and shop management. His name was variously given as Goldberg or Goldstein. He is rumored to be a political gadfly of some kind in the internet community, but details aren’t clear as yet.
Seattleblues @37,
I’m not advocating against these subsidies, I’m just pointing out that they exist. I support redistribution of wealth… it’s just time to admit that that is what this is. My point is that rural voters are voting against their self-interest based on the false assumption that they are subsidizing us.
@11
Yeah, some of those eastern WA reservations are big, but they’re mostly full of open space. The Yakima Indian tribe is only around 8.5K people. Yakima County has about 239,000 people in it.
Native American’s make up 1.5% of the population of Washington State.
@37
Back in the day, jobs at meat packing plants were sought after, union, paid a family wage, and the work wasn’t done by migrant labor. See the book Methland for more on that http://www.methlandbook.com/
Back in the day meat didn’t cost exorbitant amounts of money and you didn’t have to worry about getting sick from eating it. There’s no reason we can’t switch back to the old way of doing things.
Like wise with my grandparents farms. When extra labor was needed the vast majority of it came from locals. We’d have to make some big changes to switch back or create a new farming system that looked more like the old one and relied more on locals. But, there’s no reason it couldn’t be done and a whole lot of reasons for it too be done. Like with meat, this is how it used to be done and people could afford to eat under the old system. There’s no reason people wouldn’t be able to afford to eat with locals doing most of the labor.
I vote that money state taxes collected stays in the county where it is collected. Then what will the redneck don’t tax me assholes do?
If we had actual Ds — you know, with spines and a lick of political sense — they would be demanding that the Rs and cretins like Sheldon (D-Potlatch, Mason County) pony up the revenue to mitigate the disparity — at least.
And it would not be out of line to point out (strongly and often) to their constituents that they aren’t representing them.
@48
Yay, Woody!
Gosh it would be great if folks would let go of the Welfare/Warfare State and give liberty a try. Unfortunately after reading many of these posts it’s apparent that the freedom philosopy has gone down the memory hole. Why should we want to force other citizens to preform our charitable deeds?
Starving the underprivileged won’t make them vote Democrat. It will just make them hungry. The jobs keep moving overseas, and a smug “I told you so” is not the answer to the economic problems. Perhaps a change in the entire public assistance system is in order.