There are at least two problems with this idea that "The urban areas are financially funding the rural areas." First, in terms of taxes and benefits, urban are

There are at least two problems with this idea that "The urban areas are financially funding the rural areas." First, in terms of taxes and benefits, urban areas vote for that stuff. It's only fair that they pay. The rural areas are trying to cut costs. Second, one could argue that the economic activity in urban areas is sort of stolen from rural areas. There was a time when many more businesses were in non-urban areas. Activity was moved to urban areas, and often then overseas while perhaps retaining some corporate leadership and marketing in our urban areas. This, or the laws that allowed and encouraged it, is essentially a brutal attack on rural America.