Food For Thought from Contra Costa Times staff writer, John Simerman on the World's 5 Largest Economy: "California contributes more money in taxes to the National Treasury than it receives via federal spending. Last year, that gap was about $58 BILLION, or about 23% of the State's roughly $256 Billion federal tax payment. The last year that California received more than it gave was back in 1986, when it received $1.02 for every federal tax dollar. Federal dollars obviously come to the state through contracts, grants, wages and payments to residents served by federally funded programs like Social Security and Medicare. California's population is relatively young, so it's no surprise that it receives less in Medicare payments. Also, the federal government spends less on defense contracts in California than it did during President Reagan's expansion of the military back in the 80's." Year Balance of Fed Tax Payments Return Per Taxpayer $ 1986 $1.6 billion $1.02 1987 -$2.4 .98 1988 -$6.3 .94 1989 -$9.0 .93 1990 -$11.0 .91 1991 -$14.7 .89 1992 -$12.6 .91 1993 -$8.6 .94 1994 -$5.2 .97 1995 -$7.4 .95 1996 -$11.7 .93 1997 -$14.5 .92 1998 -$19.1 .91 1999 -$22.2 .90 2000 -$29.2 .88 2001 -$46.9 .82 2002 -$58.3 .77