Illinois is almost at the bottom (48th), getting only 80 cents back for every dollar we send.

In sharp contrast, South Carolina receives $8(!) back from our federal government for every $1 it sends. Florida, about $5 for every $1 it kicks in. Louisiana and Alabama, about $3.50 per $1 delivered to D.C.

I have worried in my dreams that the U.S. is about to tip over because of the weight of all the military bases and other federal installations located in the South.

The Old South is the heart of red state strength. Their treatment of the blue states is both partisan and sectional.

This sectionalism is likely to become more accentuated. Americans are rearranging themselves to locate with more like-minded folks.

Oldsters are moving south. Young professionals are moving to the big cities. Highly educated folks tend to live on the coasts. The young continue to flee jobless rural areas, leaving behind older, less well-educated residents.

This tends to make red states more so, and blue states ditto. This may add, if more is possible, to the hyper-partisanship we see in Congress.