You'll need to speak up

I found this image on a conservative blog I sometimes visit (don't tell anyone!). Of course, Verizon coverage sucks (at least where I live), so it's not really saying much. But wow, look how red the United States is. No wonder Donald Trump won the election. We should really listen to his supporters because they clearly outnumber those tiny blue islands of progressives.

Except the truth, as usual, is much more complicated.  First of all, hardly anyone lives in most of those red counties. And even on the reddest of red counties, some people probably voted blue.

What does the country look like if you adjust for actual population and vote percentages? Like this:

Thanks to Mark Newman, of the Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, at the University of Michigan for putting together an excellent analysis of the election results.

Isn't it ironic...

One of Trump's 'solutions' to the Affordable Care Act is to allow insurance companies to sell health insurance across state lines.

But the sale of insurance is regulated by the states. So in order for this to work, the Government will have to take the right to regulate insurance away from the states. This, from a party that has always been about States' Rights and how terrible it is that the Federal Government interferes with them.

Also, notwithstanding all the railing against regulations, once the Federal Government takes over the sale of health insurance, there will have to be some rules and regulations, however modest. Those regulations would most likely be managed by the Department of Commerce. The very same Department of Commerce so many Republicans have vowed to shutter.

It's kind of like rain on your wedding day. Only actually ironic.

It's a funny thing

Blue States are net contributors to the Federal system.  That is, in general, people in Blue States pay more into the Federal Government through taxes than they receive from the Federal Government from all the different federal programs that send money to the states.

Red States, on the other hand, tend to be net recipients from the Federal system.  That is, in general, people in Red States receive more money from the Federal Government than they pay into it through taxes.

The tax cuts the Republicans will want to introduce once Trump takes office will largely help the wealthy, and wealthy people tend to live in Blue States (see this lovely map). 

The programs the Republicans will want to cut once Trump takes office will hurt poor people across the country. However, once the benefits of the tax cuts trickle down to those living in Blue States, the Blue States will be able to afford to replace those programs. Unfortunately, the Red States won't have that luxury. 

So in the end, it seems likely that when the social safety nets are cut loose, the suffering will be largely felt by those in the Red States that voted for the Trump.