United States | News & Politics

That statement requires an awfully large asterisk.

Yes, California pays the most in taxes, but only because the population is so much larger. It also gets most of the back. Whether California is a "giver" or a "taker" state depends on exactly how you measure it, and what year. Regardless, it's always very close to even.

But yes, the premise of federal disaster aide is horribly broken. It shouldn't work as a Congressional GoFundMe after each disaster hits, where donors get to decide if they "deserve" the money. Either Congress has disaster aide setup, or it doesn't. That needs to apply to California, Florida, or wherever.