I’ve written before about how big government is enriching people in the Washington metropolitan area. This is for two reasons.
First, bureaucrats are paid too much, getting twice as much compensation, on average, as people in the productive sector of the economy.
Second, lobbyists, contractors, and interest groups have figured out how to get lucrative positions at the federal trough.
A new report from MSN Money illustrates how the political elite is getting very rich by plundering honest Americans. America has 3,033 counties, and they identified the 15 richest jurisdictions from that list.
Of those 15 super-elite counties (the top 1/2 of one percent), 10 are in the Washington metropolitan area. I’ve identified them with stars in the map.
You may be wondering, by the way, about the location of the other counties in the top 15. Well, four of them are suburbs of New York City, meaning that they are home to rich Wall Street people who mooched from the taxpayers thanks to TARP bailouts and other subsidies.
So if you really want to be cynical, you could count them as auxiliary counties of Washington, DC. That’s probably an unfair conclusion, but TARP was unfair to honest and hard-working people, so I don’t feel too guilty.
As far as I can tell, the only untarnished jurisdiction in the top 15 is Douglas County, Colorado. And given that these are the folks who are implementing a good school choice plan, it seems that we have a group of productive people who also believe in doing the right thing.
For more information about the overcompensation of bureaucrats, this video is loaded with information.
Most important of all, remember that any proposals to increase government spending will further widen the income gulf between the political elite and regular Americans. And any initiative to boost the tax burden would lead to the same result.
Since 1980 we borrowed 14,000 Billion. The Tax Book was Christmas Tree filled with goodies for the Rich and Corporations. It is a shame that they take more in Exemptions than they pay in taxes.
That is why OECD ranks Us:
#2 as Least Taxed–We pay 30% of GDP in fed—state–local taxes
#2 as Least Taxed Corporations–In 2011 They paid 1.5% of GDP in taxes
# 4 on Inequality–10% own almost 80% of our Wealth and take almost 50% of our individual income..80% get the crumbs
Suggestions:
1.Fed Fund election–6 months-3 primary- 3 general-free equal tv time-one debate a week=12-adequate to evaluate candidates no $$ no pacs
2.Members of Congress and White House can accept nothing with a financial value.
Keep them on the job not on the road
3.Progressive Flat Tax(by group)–tax to pay our way not leave for kids to pay
4.Burn Tax Book–gets enough added revenue to have a surplus to attack the debt
Yes! Simple. Yes Effective.
only bug I find is how to choose candidates.
TARP was unair to hard workig citizens so I dont’ feel feel so badly”.
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Did I misinterpret that very dumb sentence?????
wow! I upset at 87 so misspallad!!!
[...] says Cato’s Dan Mitchell, who takes an MSN Money report on the 15 U.S. counties (the highest [...]
To hell with working. Next go round I mooch off the taxpayer !
Clarence -
Even if your numbers are true, you don’t see a problem with government siphoning off 30% of everything we produce? That’s worse than mafia thugs who shake down market owners for “protection!”
All corporate taxes are double (or triple) taxation on the same money.
Inequality has nothing to do with quality of life for the bottom of the income scale. It doesn’t matter if the richest has $100M or $1B or $10B as long as the poorest have access to cheap food, communication and transportation, which, from the looks of all the satellite dishes on all the cheap apartment buildings, I’d say they’re doing okay.
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As for the suggestion of having tax-funded elections – I don’t think so. The idea that money is taken from me by force, and then spent promoting the very government I want to change is abhorrent. I have the natural right to give money to the candidates and causes I want. Government choosing for me is a recipe for disaster. (It’s hard enough to hear about 3rd or 4th party candidates!)
Why should taxes be progressive? If I make 1,000 times more money than you, shouldn’t I pay 1,000 times more taxes? A ‘progressive’ system says should I pay 2,000 times or 5,000 times the tax you do.. THAT’s unfair! Eliminate ALL deductions – use one simple flat rate that starts at the first dollar over the poverty line.
Here’s how you choose candidates: By random draw! Pick a citizen within the age range as dictated by the Constitution. If they want to serve, have them serve one term, then find someone else. (Maybe there could be a vote of confidence to keep them in a second term only. Or a list anyone could put their name on to be considered.)
That certainly wouldn’t do any worse.
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What Mr. Mitchell was saying was that he didn’t feel guilty lumping in the four super-rich New York counties with the Washington D.C. counties as being filled with people who do nothing but suck off money from those of us who are producing it. Lumping them together was, as he admitted, a bit unfair, but since so much TARP money went to people in those counties, he didn’t feel too bad doing it.
If you are paying attention to what the Occupiers do instead of what they say, then you are a hater.
As my mom used to say, “Actions speak louder than words.”
Mencken once asked how the nation would be harmed if half of the paper pushers and their ilk in Washington disappeared. I’d say it’s high time to gather empirical evidence.
[...] Based on Where the Top 1 Percent Lives, the Occupy Crowd Should Be Protesting Against Big Government… [...]
[...] Where the 1% lives (Dan Mitchell) [...]
It is so obvious that only Congressman Dr. Ron Paul hits the nail on the head every time he debates the other so called conservative candidates. The only other Republican contender that I can halfway follow is Newt Gingrich and he has some poor stances he has veered off course with in his recent past. But when he speaks he seems to know the facts on many issues, But I do fully trust Ron Paul as he clarifies issue after issue such as earmarks and why their reason plus transparency are real. If the Congress or legislative branch does not earmark funding then the Executive branch the President and his administrators put this money in an overall fund and waste it outside of the people’s representatives. Vote Ron Paul in 2012.
[...] / Govt. Symbolism in Action GM’s Profits Don’t Mean Taxpayers Will Be Off the Hook Based on Where the Top 1 Percent Lives, the Occupy Crowd Should Be Protesting Against Big Government Ten Reasons to Dislike the Federal Reserve Ohio May Ban “Secret Compartments” Green company [...]
[...] Just in case you think I’m exaggerating about overpaid government employees, take a look at this map showing 10 of the 15 richest counties in America. Rate this:Share this:PrintEmailFacebookTwitterMoredeliciousDiggFarkLinkedInRedditStumbleUponLike [...]
[...] in February, I posted this startling map showing that 10 of America’s 15-richest counties are the bedroom communities surrounding [...]
[...] in February, I posted this startling map showing that 10 of America’s 15-richest counties are the bedroom communities surrounding [...]
[...] about “real Virginia,” but I’ve always been mystified by the kerfuffle. Just look at this map and see how the counties in Northern Virginia are among the wealthiest in America thanks to all the [...]
[...] in the nation, but not because of entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Instead, it’s a bedroom community for over-paid bureaucrats, corrupt lobbyists, fat-cat contractors, and other ne… and live off the blood, sweat, and tears of people in the economy’s productive [...]
[...] counties in the nation, but not because of entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Instead, it’s a bedroom community for over-paid bureaucrats, corrupt lobbyists, fat-cat contractors, and other ne’… and live off the blood, sweat, and tears of people in the economy’s productive [...]
[...] in the nation, but not because of entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Instead, it’s a bedroom community filled with over-paid bureaucrats, corrupt lobbyists, fat-cat contractors, and o… and live off the blood, sweat, and tears of people in the economy’s productive [...]
[...] wonder, as shown in this map, most of the richest counties in America are those surrounding Washington. Rate this:Share [...]
The argument could also be made that the four counties in New York are the home of the policy makers and controllers of the mainstream media with their pro-liberal-inside-the-beltway-mentality.
As such they are directly in the sphere of influence of D.C.
[...] Washington, but worse. Why worse? Because even though Washington is akin to a city of parasites feasting off the productive energy of the rest of America, Brussels and the European Union are an even more odious cesspool of harmonization, [...]
[...] won’t be surprised to learn that Montgomery County is a suburb of Washington, DC. And, as you can see from this map, it is filled with overpaid bureaucrats and lobbyists. Since these are the people imposing so much [...]
[...] federal metropolis now has the biggest concentration of America’s richest counties. The lobbyists, politicians, interest groups, and overpaid bureaucrats are living very nice lives [...]
[...] federal metropolis now has the biggest concentration of America’s richest counties. The lobbyists, politicians, interest groups, and overpaid bureaucrats are living very nice lives [...]
[...] How many of the nation’s richest counties are in the D.C. metro region. [...]
[...] How many of the nation’s richest counties are in the D.C. metro region. [...]
[...] as shown in this map, 10 of the 15 richest counties in the country are in the Washington metropolitan [...]
[...] as shown in this map, 10 of the 15 richest counties in the country are in the Washington metropolitan [...]
[...] metropolitan DC area is now the wealthiest region of the nation; it includes 10 of America’s 15 richest counties. …One of the main sources of that unearned — and undeserved — prosperity is the tax [...]
[...] How many of the nation’s richest counties are in the D.C. metro region. [...]
[...] How many of the nation’s richest counties are in the D.C. metro region. [...]
[...] P.S. If you still aren’t convinced that bureaucrats are overpaid, look at this remarkable map. [...]
[...] lucrative “industry” also helps explain why Washington is now the richest metropolitan area in the [...]
[…] those who are. Dan Mitchell has discussed the link between big government and corruption. Also check out his story of how 10 of the 15 wealthiest counties in America are in the DC metropolitan area. […]
[…] How many of the nation’s richest counties are in the D.C. metro region. […]