Government budget cuts hit red states the hardest

A new Reuters analysis found that recent budget cuts may demonstrate the politicization of public spending.

The findings suggest that governmental budget cuts after a 2011 budget deal hit Republican states harder than swing states or Democratic states. Funding for discretionary grant programs has fallen 40 percent in red states, versus just 25 percent in purple and blue states. The funding cuts affected programs including Head Start preschool education and anti-drug initiatives.

"In the context of the Obama administration, swing states and blue states are doing better than red states," John Hudak, a federal spending expert who worked with Reuters on the analysis, said in a statement.

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Reuters notes that the disparity "only shows up in federal aid that is most directly controlled by the administration." Even controlling for factors like population, economy, and the number of research universities, "red states still came up short."