Transportation Special Session Starts Today

Special Message to Legislators: 

Give Governor Abuser Fees the legacy he deserves.  NOTHING.

All he can propose is regressive taxes and fees.  In a Democratic sweep year in 2007 Chuck Caputo and David Poisson nearly lost their seats for backing this out of touch Governor.  By the next election Tim Kaine, and his crashing approval rating will be irrelevant- but your votes will not be.  If you can't find a plan that fixes transportation, under a progressive funding formula then don't pass anything. 

Give Governor Abuser Fees the legacy he deserves.

Comments

[charlie]

interesting. Bacon's rebellion also had a post up praising Kaine on his land-use proposals. I don't know much about them but they seem sensible.

it is amazing, however, how Governor Tin Ears has managed to enrage his own base.....

I'd love to see Tin Ears say to the people: If we just cut down driving by 5% that would solve our transportation problems AND the gas crisis.

[Pete in Williamsburg]

Charlie,

Nah, his base is not enraged, Ben is. I assume it's all due to Byrne in the primary, but he's still an excellent governor who has worked hard to work with an obstinate GA.

In addition, there is a moderate chance Kaine could be the next Vice President and a high chance that he will be a cabinet member of the next administration.

NLS has impact in Virginia, but not enough to sour Kaine's reputation, especially with the Democratic base.

[Sam]

Ditto to PiW. Kaine's been a great Governor. His political decisions, not his governing ones, is what has pissed off some in the base. That some, however, is a slim minority.

[While We're At It]

What was Warner's legacy on roads? Ah, yes, worse than nothing!

And Ben, if you can take a break from your incessant b*tching, maybe you can outline your own version of a reasonable transportation plan.

[Not Larry Sabato]

How has Kaine been a good Governor? On what issues? His record has been disgusting (estate tax), inept (Amendments that made 2007 bill unconstitutional), regressive (current proposal) and borderline evil (abuser fees).

[charlie]

Pete:

lay off the crack pipe. Kaine's not going to be VP. At best he'll be a cabinet pick -- but he has proven himself lead footed and tin eared. The sooner he gets out of VA politics the better for everyone.

[Not Ben]

You forgot the biggest transgression of all: he endorsed Gerry Connolly.

[Not Larry Sabato]

Good point. Put that in the "corrupt" section.

[Pete in Williamsburg]

Charlie,

I wrote "moderate" but really meant something lower on the possibility scale. Kaine is defintely on the short-list and there are good reasons for that. However, I don't think he's the top-pick.

As for Kaine and VA politics, no way. Kaine is here to stay. As an example, the Virginia GOP will be better off when Gilmore finally exits for good in November. However, Kaine has an unlimited future and will be a power player for as long as he wants.

kaine is not even a third tier option for VP. Maybe if obama thought he had a chance in VA (and believed kaine could help) it would be different. However, mobama has no chance in VA and even if he did kaine does not have the clout to put him over the top.
(not to mention the fact that the nation will have a hard time getting past a nerdy top of the ticket, and definitely would not want bookend nerds running the country)

[Church Hill Dem]

The sales tax hike he's phasing in excludes groceries and drugs, right? Where's the regressivity?

[Not Larry Sabato]

Wow, he will let poor people buy food and drugs? I am SO impressed.

"Let Them Eat Cake"?

[Not John S. Mosby]

Gee Ben, if your serial loser MoYLF (mother only you'd like to fuck) had won in 2005, she could be Governor next year if Kaine takes a spot in the Obama presidency. Too bad.

Why are you supporting all the old women this year? Definite mommy-sex fetish.

Libby Dole or Kay Bailey Huchison may be a top candidates for McCain's VP, if either one's selected I expect you to endorse and support that slate. Both are old white women with questionable hairstyles.

[Church Hill Dem]

The argument for regressivity is that is raises the cost of even necessities that lower income must buy (not "poor" as an elitist like you would call them).

Since those necessities are carved out, much of the regressivity of this sales tax increase is diminished.

Wait,
I think you forget, in your list of necessities: cell phone, HD tv (minimum 2), caddy, cable or satellite, high speed internet access, designer clothes, ipod, x-box/Nintendo/wii,
And all of the above should take priority over those secondary items such as food, heat, housing and school.

[charlie]

yeah, pete that is some good stuff you have there if you think Kaine's on any short list.

1. He is a sitting gov, with one year left, and a R would take over the seat.

2. He is a ineffective campaigner

3. Virginia is not a critical state for Obama.

4. His popularity in Virginia is falling through the floor

5. he comes across as a whining, hypocritical (see death penalty), suckup politican.

As I said, great for a cabinet pick. And he'll be gone in two years, and NOBODY will be running on Kaine's coat tails.

[Tatum]

Kaine was one of the first to find the Presidential candidate that would defer to political expedience over substance every time. I stopped supporting him when he endorsed Obama. As far as I'm concerned NOVA residents can rely on hope and the fierce urgency of now to get them to work.

Didn't Warner raise the sales tax, too? And the cigarette tax (most smokers are poor people)?

Why aren't those "regressive" NLS?

Its no wonder hes pushing a sales tax. In polling, again and again, property taxes are the most hated, then income taxes, then sales taxes.

[Not Ben]

Neither Tim Kaine nor Jim Webb stand any reasonable chance of being VP.

[Alex P Keaton]

I gotta agree with Ben on this one. Kaine has been as useless as Kilgore would have.

[charlie]

Hey, I just looked it up. Deval Patrick has a higher approval rating than Kaine!

[Not Wayne Rooney]

Kaine did one great thing as governor - he supported Connolly over the old bag Leslie Byrne. Granted, Connolly's victory over Byrne was so big it is hard to say that Kaine's support was what made the difference - but he did help.

[novamiddleman]

Kaine: "Do we want to solve this problem? I sense that the willingness is there to do it. We all come here to serve, but the reality is that other concerns begin to intrude--concerns about electoral or caucus politics, concerns that willingness to compromise might be frowned on or interpreted as weakness. If we let our actions be dictated by the insular concerns of Capitol Square, the problem could well be evaded until infinity. But, let's fit our actions to the standards that prevail outside Capitol Square--the standards of our citizens who send us here to solve problems and get things done."

Pot Kettle Black. What a pompous little (family blog edited out)

Tip of the Hat to

http://www.nvdaily.com/blogs/politics/

for the quote

[Not Tim Kaine]

An obstinate GA, Pete? I'm pretty sure the General Assembly sent Gov. F-Up a perfectly good CONSTITUTIONAL transportation bill LAST YEAR, that he amended to make make unconstitutional and sent it back, saying if they didn't pass it, they would get nothing...and this problem would've started last year. That, my non-friend, is bad GOVERNMENT, if not good politics. Knowingly changing an excellent, bipartisan piece of legislation and screwing it all to hell only to make the issue into a crisis so you can be Obama's little whipping boy soon is what I like to call obstinate. I actually (and this doesn't happen to often) agree with Ben on this one.

Governor Tim "Grinch" Kaine has been, is, and will be a lame duck governor with no results because all he does is piss everyone off. I hope he's shown for the POSER he is...emphasis on the P O S.

[brimur]

NTK: You're dead wrong there. The section of the bill granting taxing authority to unelected regional entities was there before the Governor's amendments.

[novamiddleman]

You know Connolly Kaine and Obama have alot in common

1. They each think they are the best thing since sliced bread.

2. They have no intentions of ever compromising or participating in bipartisanship.

3. Anyone that dares to disagrees with them is playing politics or intellecutally inferior.

[novamiddleman]

brimur brimur brimur

The law placed the burden on local officials until Connolly whined to his buddy Kaine to change it.

Novamiddleman, you know what Connolly, Kaine and Obama also have in common? They are winning elections.

[Not Tim Kaine]

brimur brimur brimur

Read the bill before you go shooting off at the dome piece. The section "granting taxing authority to unelected regional entities" was put in by Gov. Bloody Hands. The initial bill called for the creation of the authorities to distribute the funds, but left the collection of the taxes to the local governments of the region...a burden they didn't want because they, in turn, wouldn't get re-elected their next term because they raised taxes. So thank you, sir, for playing but please come prepared and informed next time about yet another one of GBH's horrible attempts of governance.

[Not Larry Sabato]

NTK, keep this up and you will be a front pager here!

[Herndonia]

Guh, yes, please put NTK on the front page - he'd fit in with everyone else up there who has little clue what they're talking about.

1) No, local governments didn't want to raise taxes for transportation. Why should they? It's a state responsibility. Granted, being as spineless as the GA isn't the best defense, but if you're going to fling stones, be consistent in your targets. Besides, when I checked some local governments did raise the commercial tax rate, so clearly they weren't quite as spineless as we'd like to think.

2) The big reason local governments in NoVA didn't like the original bill? In order to take advantage of the "privilege" for raising taxes, local governments also had to take over maintenance responsibility for heretofore state roads within their jurisdictions! And up here, neither the paltry funds currently budgeted at the state level for maintenance (which the state would have transferred to the localities), nor the funds raised by the new taxes the local governments would have had the privilege of raising would have covered that cost in 5 years in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties. Never mind new projects.

So great, the GA passed a bill that would have worsened our transportation situation in NoVA over the long term, but hey! It was constitutional! Gravy. That's prepared and informed son.

Yes, the Governor's office and the Attorney General's office should've done a better job vetting the amendments, but hindsight is always 20-20, so your aim is a bit suspect. I doubt the Gov sat in his chair last spring and thought "eh, it'll get struck down, but what the heck!" At least the Governor and his office actually did some math in trying to put together a funding solution.

[Not Tim Kaine]

Herndonia (one who is obviously from Herndon)...

Well...most were spineless and ran and cried to Big Daddy Kaine.

And it's the state's responsibility to completely fund the maintainance of roads? Since when? I'm pretty sure I've never driven on a road and Herndon and could particularly care less about the roads there.

If you want your projects done and maintained, call your local government and tell them to raise your taxes...if not, then move...but a majority of Virginia doesn't give a damn about HR and NoVA...in fact, a majority of Virginia ISN'T NoVA or HR, despite what those regions would like to narcissistically think.

I, and the majority of Virginians don't want our taxes raised just to keep up with YOUR ease of use.

So you can either 1) move or 2) raise you taxes and fund your stupid projects yourself.

And yes, please put me on the front page...I'll write anything about this transportation issue and Kaine's failure to solve anything while in office.

"The Transportation Governor" my ass.

[novamiddleman]

I like your style and most of your points NTK but

without NoVa and HR guess what happens. Your education system goes into the toilet or your local government actually has to raise taxes.

We in NoVa and HR are tired of subsidizing your candyasses down there. So put up or shutup.

Everyone in this charade and farce of a special session is equally incompetent.

Let’s start with Governor Tim Kaine, Jim Gilmore’s Democrat doppelganger in incompetence and belligerence. Since the first proposal he has put forward on roads, he has made no effort to even try to meet House Republicans half way. Everything is tax, tax, tax. Now we can argue over whether or not taxes are needed, but the fact remains that if Kaine had any interest in a solution he would find some way to cut spending on other programs or otherwise at least make an effort to reduce the revenue component as an act of good faith. I find it difficult to believe that Governor Kaine cannot find one dollar in the budget that would be put to higher and better use for transportation than whatever it is being frittered away on now. Kaine’s approach is give me lots of new taxes without a millimeter of belt tightening or compromise. Nevermind that Kaine’s plan is regressive on the poor and middle class, and targets already-struggling sectors of the economy. He knows that an all-tax approach is DOA, but he stubbornly pushes forward in the hopes he can make his House rivals look obstructionist when they stand up as a co-equal branch of government and have the audacity to see things differently. Show ‘em how to work across the aisle, Tim-may.

Then you have Senator Dick Saslaw who evidently represents a district on Mars, because he must be living on a different planet to come up with his screwball ideas. He thinks Virginia drivers aren’t paying enough for gas at $4/gallon and he wants to raise it more. To add to the insanity that passes for Saslaw’s plan, he claims a tax hike on gas won’t add to prices at the pump. So, small business owners who own gas stations that have already taken profit cuts due to the current pricing situation are now going to just eat this new tax? How much more does he think Wawa can charge for a Hershey Bar in order to subsidize eating the additional taxes and still get anyone to buy it? Saslaw’s plan is simply to flog those already getting hammered by high fuel costs. It may be a sign of leadership not to follow the popular will in order to do what’s right, but is it leadership to give the citizens you serve the finger before shoving it up their collective asses?

On to the Senate Republican Caucus. Does anyone know what they plan? Do they even have a plan? Has anyone heard anything from this MIA bunch? Or are they just split between the anti-taxers, the Chichester/Potts wing remnants and the bunch that is looking around with no clue what to do? They are total non-players in this little comedy.

And then we come to House Republicans. No taxes they say. That’s fine. So where would the money come from? Well taxes in NoVA and Tidewater, so the no-taxes thing goes up in smoke. The balance would come from tolls, congestion pricing and other “public-private” plans. What are these numbnuts planning on tolling? Roads we already paid for? Our taxes already paid for, say, I-64, but now we get to pay for it again? Can you even put tolls on Interstates that have been paid for and completed? Or are they just going to toll the new roads, you know, the one’s we don’t have the money to build nor the bonding headroom to finance? Besides, you cannot toll any portion of the Interstate system that receives any federal funding, so there goes the matching federal funds for most highway improvements. And congestion pricing? That’s nice. The rich get to fly on buy while the poor sit in a traffic jam. Didn’t we get rid of separate but equal? I thought class warfare was the Democrats’ tactic. What about the “public-private” partnerships? Well those have worked great. The Pocahontas Parkway nearly went belly up before they found an Australian group to lease it for 99 years. The toll was $1.50 when the Parkway opened in ’02 and will rise from it’s current $2.50 to $2.75 next year since traffic count has never been what was projected. And public/private roads are so popular, only two have been built. But no doubt the idea is about to catch fire. And, of course, they also cannot find a penny in the current budget that could be better spent on transporation

But let’s not forget the House Democrats. Ward Armstrong is carrying the football for Kaine’s dead-as-a-doornail plan, which was sent to the Rules Committee to get personal attention of Speaker Howell. He was able to wrangle only 26 other House Democrats to co-sponsor this mess. Alexander, Bouchard, Bowling, Englin, Hull, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Mathieson, McClellan, Miller, Nichols, Phillips, Poisson, Pollard, Shannon, Tyler and Ware are nowhere to be found. Of course most of these are in unsafe seats or are Black Caucus members. How many of them will even vote for this pig on the floor, not that it will ever get there.

So no one has anything to offer, nothing will get done, no one will even attempt to compromise and we will see this fight again next year and the year after and the year after and…

Hey Novamiddleman:

We here in RoVA have no interest in subsidizing NoVA's inability to manage growth, institute sane development policies and not kiss the ass of every developer who walks in with a blueprint and a shovel. You made the road mess by letting anyone build anything anywhere they wanted without giving one thought to the consequences and costs. Your poor planning is not my problem. You screwed it up, and you can fix it. As you noted, you guys have all the money, so go and spend it.

Asking some unemployed textile worker in Danville to pay more in taxes so that some NoVA lawyer can shave a couple of minutes off his commute from McLean to K Street in his Lexus is more than a bit appalling. Yes, of course. Let's send money from the poor parts of the state to subsidize the problems caused by millionaires building McMansions on every open scrap of land in Fairfax. Let's get the unemployed coal workers to send their money to NoVA so that the local governments in Metro-DC do not have to cut any of their absurd gold-plated services that the rest of the state cannot afford so that you can have more roads to clog. That's a great idea.

You people in NoVA are out of your mind. The '04 median household income in Fairfax was almost $84,000 while in Northampton County it was under $32,000 but those rich chicken catchers in Northampton should send more money to NoVA so that people in $500K townhomes should not be unduly taxed.

Get real.

Actually, 6:59, RoVA sucks tons of money from NoVA. The balance is in RoVA's favor, just as in New York state the balance is in upstate's favor, and in Illinois the balance is in the non-Chicago areas favor.

Without NoVA this state would be more like West Virginia.

BTW, $84,000 in McLean probably goes about as far as $50,000 in, say, Appomattox.

Its called cost of living.

[Martin Lomasney]

Kaine doesn't care about No Va or its transportation problems. It's just a hobby horse he's trying to use to increase the number of Dems in the General Assembly. His real passion in full time K, pre-K and other stuff.

He completely blew it on the VTech massacre, failing to hold the mental health professionals at the center there responsible for their gross negligence in failing to treat Cho as the Court required.

He's part of the same tired old Richmond crowd who only care about Richmond and its environs and who've run the Commonwealth for the last 400 years to its detriment.

Thank God he's almost done. If we can survive through the next session of the legislature without major harm being done to No Va, we will have dodged a major bullet.

[Not Dick Saslaw]

eh-hem. Revenue and spending have doubled in Virginia since 1998 (about $17.5 billion to $35 billion per year) -- and somehow, the pot hole budget is broke, and we're rubbing two nickels together to pay for more road and mass transit capacity. There's a problem here, and I don't think it's a lack of revenue.

[dems4dems]

Would someone tell 6:47 how Saslaw makes a living?

[charlie]

last I checked gas was up 10 cents from last week. A small gas tax increase isn't noticeable.

The real issue is Kaine turning this into a political football -- when NOVA needs solutions. Jackass Richmonders.

[Herndonia]

"And it's the state's responsibility to completely fund the maintainance of roads? Since when? I'm pretty sure I've never driven on a road and Herndon and could particularly care less about the roads there."

Since the Byrd Act of 1932. Roads in counties (with the exceptions of Arlington and Henrico counties) are owned and maintained by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and therefore the responsibility to fund the maintenance and improvements to those roads has resided with the state since that time. So in answer to what I'm sure was a sincere question, yes it is the state's responsibility to complete fund the maintenance of state roads (at least in all but two of the counties in the Commonwealth. The Byrd Act treated cities differently, which is why cities like Charlottesville and Alexandria have jurisdiction over their road systems).

Is a 75 year old act the best way to go about it? Probably not, but I don't see the GA moving to annul the Byrd Act either, just make cowardly attempts to sidestep the parts they don't like. More to the point, the Byrd Act is actually the saving grace for RoVA, since those local governments don't have the tax base to do much of anything in terms of real infrastructure. Believe me, I don't like funding your schools anymore than you like funding my roads (which you don't), but them's the berries in a commonwealth.

For what it's worth NTK, I'm not saying the Governor's amendments to HB3202 were the greatest thing since sliced bread either. I just think they were a more sincere attempt to fix a problem then the schlock the GA originally handed him to sign. I would think your local government, if handed a block of cement that would eventually cost it much more money the way the original HB3202 treated localities up here, they would cry and whine just as loudly.

I know how Dick Saslaw makes a living. That does not make his statement true. If it were, then I recommend that Dick send some extra money to Richmond for each sale of gasoline he makes without increasing the price. Somehow I don't see it happening.

NTK, you're really short sighted.

You may have never driven on a road in Herndon, but I can absolutely 100% gaurantee you have consumed a product (many times) that came off of a truck that drove on a road in Northern Virginia.

When theres traffic congestion, more gas is used. And guess who pays the price? You, the consumer.

Think of the bigger picture next time instead of engaging in regional warfare.

FWIW the population of Hampton Roads + NoVa is about half the state population.

Add Richmond-Petersburg Metro, and its a majority. So yes, most of Virginia is NoVA and HR.

Saslaw is wackier than I thought. His legislation is SB 6009. It calls for

A 6 cent/per gallon hike in the gas tax over six years when gas prices are at record highs.

AND

A .25% increase in the sales tax during a time of stagnant wages. Also one of the most regressive taxes on the poor.

AND

A .5% increase in the sales tax for motor vehicles at a time when the auto industry is sucking air.

But Delusional Dick is not done yet. He really socks it to the people at home in NoVA. For them he adds on top of all that has been mentioned:

* ANOTHER .5% increase in the sales tax because people in NoVA are rich and can afford it.

* A $5/room per night occupancy tax because that helps attracts visitors.

* A 40 cent/$100 increase in the Grantors Tax because it is not hard enough to sell homes in Northern Virginia with the current decline in real estate values and demand.

But wait, there's more good news. All that extra money dedicated to Northern Virginia? Only 40% of it is earmarked for road and highway improvements. The other 60%? Well first, it will be used to pay off existing debt. But wasn't that being paid from the funds we have now? And then the rest goes for mass transit. That should make the enviros happy!

Good news for Tidewater! No special regional taxes for you from Dick. Evidently he only provides extra punishment to those he actually represents because masochism must be fun!

The man is out of his mind. A complete and utter lunatic. Is he covered by the new mental health laws passed this winter?

Why not just flog us for being taxpayers while he's at it, since he seems to want to punish everyone? And only 40% of the new money in NoVA is for roads? I'm sure people will be thrilled to see that up there.

You don't think mass transit is important? You know, that can take some of the pressure off roads (and gas prices).

[Not John S. Mosby]

Holy shit, an extra penny a year for six years on $4.00 gas? Wow, that's a lot. An extra $5 on a hotel bill, when even a shitty hotel in Fairfax/Arlington/Alexandria/Dulles can run well over $200 a night? Jewish heaven forbid!!!

As far as the RoVA/NoVA battle, if you took out Northern Virginia the rest of the state wouldn't look like West Virginia. More like Alabama, with a decent size federal subsidy in the way of military bases (Hampton Roads), a decent small city (Richmond) and a lot of poorly educated, underemployed semi-rural to rural poor.

[Not Tim Kaine]

NoVA and HR make up around 46% of Virginia by my estimate...soooo WRONG!

and I'm sure that my stuff comes straight from HR, though Richmond to western Virginia...so wrong again...tell me where is anything except the nation's capital (like a port etc.) in NoVA. Move to Maryland if you don't like it or sit in traffic. I'm fairly sure that education is at least in part by localities so do the same for you shitty roads or stop inviting all your mexican kin there.

11PM:

You think these drivers are going to hop onto buses all of a sudden? They might take rail, but that is years from being upgraded.

Funny to watch liberals debate. It's like watching cartoons.
When you are making those silly statements about how great taxes are maybe after each point you could throw in a (kapow / whamo / bam) for emphisis.

Maybe you could get to the point were you tell us how well all the rest of the taxes we are paying have worked to solve the problem.

ooops.. they have been spent on more and more programs sorry I forgot. (Smack)

NTK, NoVA loses money by being part of the rest of the state. But thats ok, I don't mind subsidizing poorer parts of the state because I realize it benefits us all.

And NoVA, being so close to Baltimore, is along with the ports in HR, are a major entry point for goods and services.

46%? I said "around half". Rounded up, its half.

"You think these drivers are going to hop onto buses all of a sudden? They might take rail, but that is years from being upgraded."

Why, yes. I sure am taking them more as are others. Ridership on buses and rails is at record rates.

I know rail is years from being upgraded, but don't you think one should plan long as well as short-term? Why is that so hard?

[Somebody Failed Geography]

".tell me where is anything except the nation's capital (like a port etc.) in NoVA. "

Washington, DC has a deep water port.

Feel free to secede and join West Virginia, NTK. I hear that state has been a raging success. You won't have to worry about traffic problems then!

You also won't have to worry about "Mexicans" in West Virginia. The economy is so piss poor not even third world immigrants want to move there.

But they have low taxes! And no traffic!

[Not Ben]

Does NTK really think RoVA subsidizes NoVA? Jesus, that's stupid.

Its really very much the other way around--NoVA subsidizes the rest of the state.

"Washington, DC has a deep water port."
I thought D.C. was a deep water port, where they unloaded taxpayers of their hard earned cash then traded it for votes.

...and its mostly military contractors and rocky mountain west (read: Republican) states that get that money back.

8:28
I don't know what you are smoking but the money is taken from working Americans and doled out to gain votes from many who use the government as their source of income (not government workers). I leave it up to you to figure out what party.
Check the difference in attitude of the Midwesterners vs the folks in New Orleans in the latest disaster. At this time during the N.O. disaster the people were crying for more gov’t help and money (to waste on vacations, bling and assorted other necessities) while the folks in the Midwest talk about banning together, rebuilding and thanking God for what they have.

[dems4dems]

Gee, 9:24, what else is different about them?

The top states for federal aid, per capita are Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, Utah, Alaska, and West Virginia. They're very Republican with the exception of Iowa, and very white.

Federal farm subsidies, cheap federal land, federal highways, and federal parks keep those states from being economic basket cases.

But I won't let things like facts and statistics interfere with your almighty gut, 9:24.

12:22
Actually top five “per capita” states are Wyoming (0.14%), Alaska (0.31%), (D.C.) (0.27%), Mississippi (1.43%), New York (6.65%), Louisiana (1.89%). Totaling 10.69 % and over 60% of that is New York (that rabid right wing state)

However, to look at “per capita” expenses, is not a fair analysis of the state’s percentage of money. A small example would be that a state with very little population, but has federal roads/land will skew the numbers dramatically.

The actual top five states in dollars are: California (12.65%), Texas (9.38%), New York (6.65%, Florida (4.65%), Illinois (3.49%) totaling almost 37% of the budget.
Notice the common state in both?

I am sure that you will appreciate these “facts” since you seem to hang do dearly on reality and I am also sure you were not trying to “fool” anyone with your incorrect analysis in your earlier post.

Hope you enjoy the education.