What 'Washington, D.C.' Means to Them

Not that we're bitter. It's just that Michigan is one of those Midwestern donor states that ship you a whole lot more in federal taxes than you return to us in federal spending -- about a buck out the door for every 85 cents we reel back in.

When we're balancing year-end accounts, there really isn't enough left over to subsidize a sleek rapid transit system -- or even, most years, to patch the potholes on our critically overcrowded freeways.

So when those of us who've visited our nation's capital think of Washington, it's with a peculiar combination of pride and resentment, the way you might think about an especially well-turned-out deadbeat dad.

But we do think of you -- you and your spotless Metro, delivering you from the heated bowels of the center city to the suburban parking lots, where your imports wait to convey you the last mile of your commutes.

Not, as I say, that we're bitter.

- Brian Dickerson

Detroit

The writer is a columnist at the Detroit Free Press.

Kentucky: 'I Wouldn't Want to Live There'

Though I've lived in Louisville for 22 years, I'm still perceived as carpetbagger from up North, New York City, who doesn't know diddly about the Bluegrass.

Still, I'll risk saying that if the average Kentuckian were asked what he or she thinks of Washington, the response would be: "Wouldn't mind seeing the White House and all the monuments, but I wouldn't want to live there.

"Why? Corrupt politicians. Crime. Bad schools. Racial tension. Immigration-related tension. Terrible traffic. Mayor Whatshisname, the one who was using drugs.