Excuses excuses. California has a LOT of national parks and a HUGE abundance of minorities but yet they're not a moocher like your southern red states. 

It's clear that, overall, democratic states pull their share (and more) and conservative states don't. Just ask Brownback - GOP economic policies don't work. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-states-the-most-and-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government-2015-7