Swing and a miss, chum. "Blue" states are simply more populous than "red" states, by and large. New York, Illinois, New Jersey, California and so on. Thus more funds per capita are spent on the states with smaller populations, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the political winds. As for dependence on free lunches (showing you actually believe there is such a thing), only the very poor need that subsidy. Medicare and Social Security are not, contrary to what is widely said, entitlements. We pay a premium for Medicare and contribute all our lives into SS. BTW, Sowell has never advanced a platitude in his entire career.