The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has just released its latest report on the fiscal condition of the states. A quick glance at the rankings reveals that liberal governors are financially tanking their states just like our liberal president is financially tanking the country. And almost all of the states with the best fiscal health are led by Republicans.
Of the top 10 states in the best fiscal condition (fiscal year 2012), nine were run by Republicans, and 18 of the top 20 states were run by Republicans.
By contrast, of the 10 states with the worst financial condition, eight were led by Democrats. Are you detecting a pattern here?
Interestingly, the state with the worst financial condition in the country, according to Mercatus, is led by a Republican, the man the media have been trying (at least until the recent scandal) to pre-anoint as the most electable Republican presidential nominee for 2016: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
In fairness to Christie, New Jersey has an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature. And that burden may keep him from being as fiscally prudent as he might otherwise have been.
And it works both ways. The two Democratic governors listed in the top 20 states, Steve Bullock of Montana (9th) and Jay Nixon of Missouri (14th) have overwhelmingly Republican legislatures that likely keep the governors from spending like drunken liberals.
While fiscal prudence depends on spending restraint, revenues also play a major role. Several of the states in good fiscal health are bringing in new revenues—and I’m NOT talking about tax increases. Rather, they have gotten heavily involved in energy production.
Of the top 10 fiscally sound states, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Ohio and Montana are expanding drilling for oil and natural gas. Those efforts can bring huge new revenues to the states. Texas, for example (20th), took in about $8 billion last year in energy-related taxes and royalties.
Oil and gas revenues may even explain why Democratic-led Montana is in the top 10.
Like those bottom 10 states, President Obama has been trying to tax and spend his way to national prosperity. It doesn’t work. Fiscal restraint and energy production are the best way to fiscal health. But they’re also the two biggest hurdles for Obama.