Blue States Are Cheap.

[Human]

The Democrats keep on Screaming that they are for the People, maybe they are just in it for themselves?

 

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http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/200...15s01-ussc.html

 

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

 

At this time of the year, charities of every shape and size are hunting for the most generous donors. To find them, the Catalogue for Philanthropy has a counterintuitive suggestion: Look in the nation's poorest states. That's because the Catalogue's Generosity Index for 2004 shows that giving as a percentage of income is highest in states where folks have the least to give. Mississippi - the nation's poorest in terms of average household income - ranks No. 1 in generosity, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

 

By contrast, residents of the nation's richest states appear downright Scrooge-like. Connecticut claims the highest average household income but ranks 44th in terms of percentage of income donated to charity. New Jersey and Massachusetts seem even stingier, ranking 47th and 49th respectively in giving, despite their second- and third-place rankings in income.

 

What puzzles some researchers is not just the parsimony of the wealthy states, but also the pattern. The same Northeastern "blue" states - those labeled Democratic at election time - have appeared near the bottom of the list in every year since the index began keeping track in 1997. And the same "red" - or Republican - states are always near the top. So is there something about geography that influences both voting and giving patterns?

 

Actually, it may have more to do with culture, especially religious habits.

"The reason low-income states give a lot is religion," said George McCully, president of Massachusetts-based Catalogue for Philanthropy, whose index uses 2002 IRS tax return data to compare each state's average itemized charitable deduction with its average adjusted gross income.

 

"They are tithing, evangelical Protestants, and they are giving in proportion to their income," he says. "Up here [in the Northeast], religion doesn't help our giving. I wouldn't say it hurts, but it doesn't help, either."

 

Few dispute such a connection between religious faith and giving; American religious institutions depend almost entirely on gifts from members. But even so, other factors - including race and denomination - also appear to influence giving.

A study released this year from the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that states with a high percentage of African-Americans tended to see higher averages of giving itemized as a contribution on tax returns, while states with a high percentage of Roman Catholics tended to see lower ones. But the study also found that giving tended to be higher in states where income from investments is a significant percentage of total income.

 

Based on the study, Patrick Rooney, research director for the Center on Philanthropy, rejected the notion of purely regional influences, such as a Southern or New England effect. Meanwhile, others have ventured to suggest that giving may be closely linked to a sense of gratitude.

[Natalia1974]

Human are you planning to go to the Innauguration? Maybe we will meet in the Black Tie and Boots Ball.

[Guest Human]

I wont be there, I will be going to the one that's off limits to the public.

[Guest Human]

For anyone thinking that All of this goes to my head, think again. Since I am wheelchair bound it really does mellow me out, ALOT. :)

[Guest Human]

Oh!!! For all of those who don't know about the "black tie and boots event", it's the cream de la cream of parties in dc.