Rangel to poor Mississippians: Move to New York if you want federal benefits

"Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?"

Thus says the new head of the House Ways and Means Committee, New York Democrat Charlie Rangel. Most of that disparity comes from entitlement programs for the poor. Mississippi is the poorest state in the nation, per capita. Thus, they take in much more in welfare, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits than they pay in taxes.

Rangel's backtracking from his offensive remark is particularly lame:

"I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, I just love New York so much that I can't understand why everyone wouldn't want to live here."

Perhaps Mr. Rangel is offering to move all the poor people in the South up North?

In context, Mr. Rangel was describing his intent to return more of New York's federal tax dollars to New York:

redirecting federal money to New York in return for the outsize tax collections that the federal government makes here.

I hope this is the beginning of a newfound desire by Congressman Rangel to let everybody (not just New Yorkers) keep more of the money they earn!

UPDATE: Rep. Chip Pickering of Mississippi has an excellent retort:

Last year, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Coast. We have been working hard not only to rebuild our own homes and communities, but also to repair and protect the network of refineries, pipelines, and transmission grids that supply energy, gas, and oil to the rest of the country, including New York. If Mr. Rangel believes those efforts required more than our fair share of federal money, he is welcome to send that energy back to our state and find an alternative supply...

Hat tip for the update: Michelle Malkin.