You forget that cities tend to rise where the trade crossroads are, including ports.

Unless they build their own cities, in which case they will become urban, with urban interests, the farm folks would face tolls into town, and a wide assortment of taxes and fees to get their goods shipped.

Settlements are the first things founded. The rural outlands develop from there, because they need the infrastructure to fall back on.

When the frontier is settled, where do people gather in times of trouble? The fortified town, usually located someplace strategic. In the Middle Ages, when Rome's urban infrastructure was mostly demolished by the Germanic tribes, where did people gather in crisis? The local lord's castle, where there was shelter and protection. When people wanted to sell their stuff, did they go house to house? No, they went to the market towns. Cities develop from these places.

If the cities decide to play hardball with the rural areas, you better believe they will rediscover the Second Amendment pretty quick too, if it comes down to securing sources of water and electricity.

It could be interesting to let the Republicans have what they want. They can give the People's Money back to the People. And after all these years of being called Theives of the People's Money, would you really blame Blue Staters for saying, "OK, we'll keep ours, thanks"?

I'm old enough to remember part of the discussion that led to the current Federal tax structure. I grew up in New York State. In New York, where the residency requirement to receive state benefits was only 3 months, we had a large influx of people from The Wretched South who would scrape bus fare together, and claim New York's benefits after 3 months. This was true throughout much of the Northeast, whose states then demanded that something be done to balance out the benefits. Of course, nobody could make Alabama cough up enough to improve conditions for their rural poor, so the Feds stepped in.

The balance of payments issue has illustrated that nothing much has changed.

Fine: let's dismantle the sucker, and caution New York and its neighbors to raise their residency requirement to, oh, two years. You're starving? Here's a non-refundable bus ticket. Go home.