Last night I noticed the TV commentators saying how some states were "historically Democratic".....such as NJ, Massachusetts.

I was having a conversation with some friends in NJ and we were talking about taxes. The property taxes are quite high there, and there is a state income tax. I was told that there are SO MANY assistance programs there, too. I was wondering if this is typical of "Democratic" states?? Does anyone know??

Do you live in a Democratic state (not the "new" ones that went Dem. for this election)? How are the taxes there? Programs, etc??

Oh, also wanted to add, I was talking to another friend in TN, which is Republican. She has low property taxes and NO state income tax. Not sure about the programs there, tho.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I live in Washington, and I would consider it a Democratic state. We have a very high sales tax and a moderate property tax. Our current govenor (and damn it looks like she is going to be re-elected) wants a state income tax. I'm not too happy about that. We have heavy consumer taxes here and I don't see any of those being repealed if they inact a state income tax.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

I live in a very Democratic state.One of the only states that voted for Carter. Property tax are not high. We do have sale tax on a lot of items,(newspaper, water, non food items, we use to have a snack tax but a major chip maker came into the state, so they dropped it) our sale tax is 6%. It just went up from 5%. Income tax is not high. The programs here are WIC, fuel fund, & Welfare. If you get welfare here you have to work, you have to go to the welfare building and answer phones, or some kind of community service. They do not make it easy to get any of the programs, except WIC.

Man 6%! I wish! Ours here is 9% And we have one of the highest gas taxes around. . . .so I've heard. Just looked it up. . . .54.4 cents/gallon.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Census data indicates the following if you want to compare TN to NJ. I have lived in NJ and visited TN a number of times and have some family there. While I love the land in TN and the people are generally quite nice to me, if I wanted to get ahead, I would pick NJ. Taxes, cities and all the rest. There are more people, more services, more infrastructure issues in NJ. So, it depends on how you want to live your life. But, basing a decision about taxes without looking at the outcome isn't making an informed decision. From looking at the data, perhaps the taxes go to education and law enforcement. I happily pay taxes that improve my quality of life and the lives of those around me. Because, when people around me do better, I have found I do better as well. Apparently, the majority of people of NJ are happy with their financial structure. Otherwise, they would have voted to change things or you would see an exit of citizens.

Here's some data

Education: People 25 or over with a 4 year college degree or more
TN ranks 43rd with 21%
NJ ranks 7th with 32%
State Rankings--Statistical Abstract of the United States--Personal Income per Capita in Constant (2000) Dollars 2004

Income:
TN ranks 35th at around 27K
NJ ranks 3rd at around 33K
State Rankings--Statistical Abstract of the United States--Personal Income per Capita in Constant (2000) Dollars 2004


Violent Crime:
TN ranks 4th
NJ ranks 26th
State Rankings--Statistical Abstract of the United States--Violent Crime Per 100,000 Population - 2004

Poverty - % of children living below the poverty level
TN ranks 8th at 23%
NJ ranks 44th at around 11 %
United States and States - R1704. Percent of Children Below Poverty Level


Appparently, it is worth the cost to those in NJ to pay a bit more in return for being surrounded by people who are generally better educated, have better incomes, experience less violent crime and whose children are less likely to be impoverished.

I live in Massachusetts. The sales tax is 5%. Food and clothing are not taxed. I don't think property taxes are particularly high. One of the ballot questions yesterday was to eliminate the state income tax. It was voted down.

Most of our schools are excellent. I need to check out the state rankings that the previous poster mentions to check out the other statistics.

Edited to add:
Education: 2nd with 37.9% having completed a 4 year college degree or more
Income: 2nd
Violet Crime: 18th
Poverty: 41st at 12.9%

Anyone remember the "Don't Blame Me - I'm From Masschusetts" bumper stickers when Nixon was elected? Ours was the only state to go with McGovern in 1972.