Investor's Business Daily reports the
Mercatus Center at
George Mason University has issued its annual
ranking of the 50 (not 57 as Obama thought) states based on their fiscal condition.
The rankings in the fourth-annual "Ranking of the States by Fiscal Condition" report, which was released this morning, are based on a review of audited financial statements for 2015 covering five measures that gauge the states' ability to pay bills, avoid budget deficits, and meet long-term spending needs and cover pension liabilities.
The top ten states were these:
01. Florida
02. North Dakota
03. South Dakota
04. Utah
05. Wyoming
06. Nebraska
07. Oklahoma
08. Tennessee
09. Idaho
10. Montana
IBD notes each of these states voted for Trump and only Montana has a Democrat governor. The bottom ten states were these:
50. New Jersey
49. Illinois
48. Massachusetts
47. Kentucky
46. Maryland
45. Pennsylvania
44. Louisiana
43. California
42. West Virginia
41. New Mexico
IBD says 6 of these 10 voted for Clinton, two more have Democrat governors (LA, WV). Plus:
The most fiscally sound states also tend to have the lowest tax burdens, according to a separate analysis by the Tax Foundation, which measures state and local tax burdens as a percentage of state income.
