1 July –
Yesterday, I read that five of the counties around the seat of our federal government are in the top twenty counties for highest average wages in the U.S. The list was published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Monday by Business Journals.com. The list ranked 330 counties or cities with at least 100,000 jobs. The results are proof positive that our government control of activities in the U.S. and of our money is out of control!
Manhattan was the first ranked city or county with an average yearly income of $109,028. Arlington County, VA, right outside of D.C., was second with $102,373 yearly income. Third was Washington, D.C. itself with $98,246. Ranked tenth was Fairfax County, across teh river from D.C., with $87,540. Ranked 11th was Alexandria County, VA—again right outside of D.C., with $84,960. Thirteenth was Montgomery County, MD, another bedroom suburb for the gaping maw that is our government money pit, with $78,643.
What this tells me is that the government is not only spending an increasingly higher amount of our income every year, it is doing so on the generous salaries of government workers, contractors who increasingly provide what used to be exclusive government services, and all the businesses in the region that take advantage of the spiraling wages and benefits accrued to government workers to charge more for everything from food and gasoline to real estate. I wonder why government workers, falsely considered to be working for less than the public sector, should be paid so much—especially when I don’t know of any other business, no matter how large or influential, that averages such largesse in wages around its headquarters. I am reminded of countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other developing country mired in corruption where the best paying jobs are government ones. I guess it is human nature. Why should someone exercise entrepreneurial risk taking when absolutely top jobs are available from the taxes we send to Washington?
Could it be that government is doing too much? Too much that requires highly technical and professional skills to run programs that local governments or local community service organizations should be organizing, monitoring and adjusting to fit local needs and budgets? Could it be that the federal government, the largest employer in the United States, has long since abandoned the role of protector of our borders and our freedoms and selfishly donned the mantle of arbiter of our freedoms and dispenser of our daily bread?
My question, therefore, is simple: Why should we listen to President Obama when he castigates politicians from across the aisle for not exercising leadership in handling this budget and debt ceiling crisis? He has yet to propose any plan that would reduce the bloat of government and reduce our debt. Instead, he criticizes the top 20% of income earners in the U.S.—who, by the way, pay over 80% of the federal taxes collected every year—by calling them the corporate jet crowd and other cheap shots. What does he want, 80% of the people either working for the federal government or paying no federal taxes and the other 20% paying for everything, including the interest on a spiraling federal debt? Bread and circuses. Bread and circuses.
Political insiders are quick to criticize nonpoliticians who run for president by saying they have no experience. In the environment in the nation’s capital and in state capitals throughout the nation, I suppose that is a valid criticism. After all, it takes years of learning how to accrue patronage power in order to quickly assume the reins of the tax and spend carriage. President Obama went from scholarship funded liberal schools to patronage funded political organizer to patronage funded state government to patronage funded Senate office to the final position of ultimate patron: el Presidente. He knows how to spend to get votes. Our money; his patronage.
