A recent study from George Washington University shows that West Virginia receives more federal aid money per capita than any other state in the United States.
The average West Virginian receives a substantial 26.2 percent of his or her income in the form of federal government programs of various kinds. This is nearly 10% higher than the national average for income received from the federal government, which sits at a manageable 16.7 percent.
After West Virginia, the top four states in terms of federal aid received are Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama. One cannot help but notice a regional trend developing in this list: each of these states is below the Mason Dixon line and east of Tornado Alley.
The majority of the federal aid received from these states comes in the forms of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP (formerly referred to as the Food Stamp program), unemployment insurance and so on.
Rather ironically, each of these five states has been historically conservative, choosing to elect candidates that are generally opposed to federal aid.
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