Some States Are More Equal Than Others

What was that about a culture of corruption?

In Debacle, Norquist and Lott catalog the stunning degree to which Stimulus funds were allocated to the very states that needed them least. For example, richer states got more, not less, Stimulus money. For every additional $1,000 in a state's per-capita income a state received an average $86 more per capita in Stimulus money.

Furthermore, states with high foreclosure rates got less, not more, money. Specifically, for every percentage point increase in a state's foreclosure rate, a state received $217 less per person.

The amounts given to states ranged widely. For example, while Florida only received $553 per capita, the District of Columbia walked away with $3,745 per capita. And as Norquist and Lott reveal, "The patterns early show that the money went to the places the Democrats represented."

They knew who their friends were...