Federal Spending in Each State Per Dollar of Federal Taxes, 2004

The Tax Foundation has a report on federal spending and the states.New Mexico may be number one but as Hit and Run quotes the Rio Grande Foundaton on New Mexico:

Rather than benefiting the state's economy, high levels of federal spending seem to actually harm state economic development. Gessing clarified, "It is striking that our neighbors in Colorado and Texas each receive less from the federal government than is taken from their taxpayers ($0.79 and $0.94 respectively), yet Colorado's gross state product is 11th in the nation and Texas ranks 20th." In sum, Coloradoans and Texans enjoy stronger economies than New Mexicans even though the federal government gives less back to them than it takes.

New Mexicans may have little or no control over the location of military bases, Indian reservations, national parks, and other federal institutions, but Gessing argued, "All Americans, most especially residents of New Mexico, should disavow themselves of the notion that federal spending contributes to prosperity. This holds true no matter how much money that state receives relative to what it sends to the Nation's Capitol."

You'll notice that New Hampshire is near the bottom and so is and Nevada.It appears that Washington D.C. spending isn't the engine of economic growth.