Democratic states carry U.S. economy

Interesting article in the Boston Herald. It says: "To an investor it must come as a surprise to hear all this talk of the 'red states', which voted Republican last week, as the 'real America' or the 'heartland'."
Why? The newspaper lists some stunning facts:

• The blue (Democratic) states remain the engine of the American economy. All in all they produced $5.4 trillion in goods and services in 2001 (the last year for which reliable data is available). That's about $700 billion more than the red states, according to the government's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• Per person, blue America outproduces red America by 21 percent. That's $6,700 per person per year.
• The blue states pay much more in federal income tax, and receive far less in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security - not to mention farm subsidies, highway funds and infrastructure grants.
• The tax money is coming from the blue states, but it's being allocated to the red states because they have lower than average incomes. In 2002, according to a Tax Foundation study, the transfers amounted to $136 billion.