The Washington DC Metropolitan Area - Why The Political Class Is So Out Of Touch

While the country suffers through a two year old financial downturn with official unemployment lingering around 10% and the unofficial rate about 70% higher, the elitist political class in Washington DC are pretty well isolated from the agony of the current economic downturn. Members of Congress still get paid at about three times the national household income level. Members of Congress automatically get hefty raises every year regardless of how poorly they perform. Members of Congress get substantial benefits beyond these high salaries including the best medical care, lucrative retirement packages, and assorted other in office and out of office perks. For Federal employees, we have already discussed a report from USA Today whose analysis showed that when there is a comparable job within both the private sector and the Federal government, 80% of the time the government positions pay higher wages on average with about four times as much value in the Federal benefits than the private sector.

How insulated are they from the rest of the country? Just consider some recent economic facts:

• According to the Census Department, eleven of the twenty five wealthiest counties in the country are located in the Washington metro area with six of the top ten wealthiest counties also in the Washington metro area.
• Unemployment figures from April showed a national unemployment rate of just under 10% but a Washington unemployment rate about 40% lower at only 5.9%.
• According to a CNN.money.com report that was reported in the June 11, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, Washington DC is the easiest city to get a job in. On average, an advertised job in the Washington metro area gets 1.9 applicants while the worst metro area, Detroit, gets 20 applicants per advertised job.
• According to the July issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, Washington DC proper gained more new residents between mid 2008 and mid 2009 than in any other one year period since World War II.
• Also in the Kiplinger article was the fact that DC proper now has a population of about 600,000, while Detroit has gone from a population of about 2 million residents down to a DC-like 800,000 (and still declining) despite covering a much wider physical area.

Life is pretty good in the DC area. Low unemployment, good pay and benefits, currently in growth mode. Is it any wonder that the political class cannot solve any problems facing typical Americans? Could it be that they do not see the urgency or the depth of the problems? This is consistent with the theory hypothesized in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government": we have allowed a separate, powerful, and unequal class of people to arise in this country called the American political class. They have convinced themselves that they are better, smarter and more deserving than the rest of America, a behavior that manifests itself in outsized pay, benefits, and perks, much like imperial ruling classes throughout the world.

While the only thing they are good at is getting and staying elected, they have convinced themselves that they can solve our problems if only we paid a little more in taxes (even though many of them do not think they should pay so much in taxes: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, New Mexico Governor Richardson, Congressman Charles Rangel, and others), sacrificed a little more blood on ill conceived military adventures, sacrificed a little more personal freedom on their social program misadventures, etc.

All of which brings us back to yesterday's blog where we questioned whether the center of the country would hold. Could it be that the phenomenon of states ignoring Federal edicts and legislation and individual citizens defying Federal laws (e.g. smoking medical marijuana in California, ignoring the latest health care reform bill that requires the purchase of health insurance) is a reaction to the elitist, condescending attitude of the Federal ruling political class? As states and individuals see more and more of their wealth and lives wasted by the American political class and getting nothing in return, it should not come as a surprise that the center is starting to crumble, even slightly. Consider:

• Nixon declared War On Drugs in the late 1960s but the drug problem is bigger and worse than ever.
• Carter muddled through the energy crises through the mid 1970s but we are not closer to an effective energy policy now than as we were then.
• Reagan identified the problem with our public schools in the 1982 report, "A Nation At Risk," but twenty eight years later the public schools throughout the country are still failing to educate.
• Clinton ruled through several terrorist attacks in the 1990s (first World Trade Center bombing, African embassy bombings, USS Cole attack) but did not put in place the national safeguards to protect America, leading to the death of 3,000 Americans on 9-11. Given the recent Times Square bomber and the Christmas Day underwear bomber, the political class still has not made us safe.

Over forty years of promises but no solutions to the major issues facing Americans. We are less free, less wealthy and still have to face these problems today. It appears that the only growth area in the country has been in DC, both financially, power wise, and employment wise. Will the center (DC) hold while the rest of the country suffers? I doubt it.


Our new book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Also visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.realpolichick.blogspot.com/