Want to know why – as shown by this map – most of America’s richest counties are part of the metropolitan DC region?
Part of the answer is that federal bureaucrats are overpaid. Another part of the answer is that the Washington area is filled with consultants and contractors, and this shadow government workforce also is overcompensated by taxpayers.
But I’m guessing that DC’s vast population of lobbyists and influence peddlers dominate the upper end of the income spectrum.
And that community of back scratchers and deal makers are getting even richer thanks to Obamacare. Here’s some of what The Hill is reporting today.
ObamaCare has become big business for an elite network of Washington lobbyists and consultants who helped shape the law from the inside. More than 30 former administration officials, lawmakers and congressional staffers who worked on the healthcare law have set up shop on K Street since 2010. Major lobbying firms such as Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, The Glover Park Group, Alston & Bird, BGR Group and Akin Gump can all boast an ObamaCare insider on their lobbying roster — putting them in a prime position to land coveted clients. …The voracious need for lobbying help in dealing with ObamaCare has created a price premium for lobbyists who had first-hand experience in crafting or debating the law. Experts say that those able to fetch the highest salaries have come from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or committees with oversight power over healthcare. Demand for ObamaCare insiders is even higher now that major pieces of the law — including the healthcare exchanges and individual insurance mandate — are being set up through a slew of complicated federal regulations.
You’ll also be happy to know that beltway insiders can expect years and years of undeserved loot thanks to rules, regulation, and red tape that will be unveiled for another seven years.
…the healthcare law has generated steady work — a trend that is likely to continue for years to come. That’s because ObamaCare runs on a long timeline, well into the next administration. Unless the law is severely crippled, the reform’s rules and requirements will be rolling out through at least 2020. That’s good news for lobbyists who want to sign up clients for the long haul.
This is the social science equivalent of a kick-in-the-you-know-what. A bunch of political hacks pass legislation that increases both the fiscal burden and the regulatory burden on the rest of us, but they make it very convoluted so that they can cash in and make big bucks navigating the law for deep-pocket clients.
This is a win-win for the political elite and a lose-lose for America’s productive sector.
And it’s a perfect example of what I was trying to get across in this video I narrated about the link between big government and corruption.
There are lots of specific examples of Obamacare’s corruption.
Michael Barone has exposed the sleaziness of the waiver process, Tim Carney revealed the special deals for politically connected companies, and I suggested the process was eerily similar to a passage from Atlas Shrugged.
But don’t forget Obamacare is just one example of the sleaze that defines Washington. Maybe the best way of understanding the game is to watch Andrew Ferguson explain DC’s parasite economy.
[…] Obama’s so-called stimulus produced lots of corruption. The same was true with regards to Obamacare and green energy, which were his other main […]
[…] very similar when President Obama was granting waivers for Obamacare. That was just one of the ways insiders got rich lobbying politicians for special treatment under government-run […]
[…] very similar when President Obama was granting waivers for Obamacare. That was just one of the ways insiders got rich lobbying politicians for special treatment under government-run […]
[…] I don’t like Obamacare because it further enriches and empowers Washington’s political […]
[…] I don’t like Obamacare because it further enriches and empowers Washington’s political […]
[…] figured out how to divert taxpayer money into their pockets. That includes disgusting examples of Democrat sleaze and Republican […]
[…] the longer this sordid protectionist process continues, we will see a repeat of what happened with Obamacare as senior-level people in government move through the revolving door so they can get lucrative […]
[…] the longer this sordid protectionist process continues, we will see a repeat of what happened with Obamacare as senior-level people in government move through the revolving door so they can get lucrative […]
[…] the longer this sordid protectionist process continues, we will see a repeat of what happened with Obamacare as senior-level people in government move through the revolving door so they can get lucrative […]
[…] law has been a boon to insiders and interest groups. The diversion of Medicaid money to interest groups is just one chapter in the […]
[…] law has been a boon to insiders and interest groups. The diversion of Medicaid money to interest groups is just one chapter in the […]
[…] law has been a boon to insiders and interest groups. The diversion of Medicaid money to interest groups is just one chapter in the […]
[…] of learning some lessons, let’s take a tour through the dank sewer of government, the place where malice is rewarded and malfeasance is a stepping stone to […]
[…] of learning some lessons, let’s take a tour through the dank sewer of government, the place where malice is rewarded and malfeasance is a stepping stone to […]
[…] learning some lessons, let’s take a tour through the dank sewer of government, the place where malice is rewarded and malfeasance is a stepping stone to […]
[…] some lessons, let’s take a tour through the dank sewer of government, the place where malice is rewarded and malfeasance is a stepping stone to […]
[…] let’s not forget that some people are getting very rich from Obamacare while the rest of us lose our insurance or pay higher […]
[…] In the interest of fairness, I will admit that there is a group that has benefited from […]
[…] In the interest of fairness, I will admit that there is a group that has benefited from […]
[…] Let’s not forget that there is one very tiny segment of America that has unambiguously benefited from […]
[…] Let’s not forget that there is one very tiny segment of America that has unambiguously benefited from […]
[…] he right? Well, let’s look at some evidence. We already know Obamacare has been a boon for hacks from the Democratic […]
[…] he right? Well, let’s look at some evidence. We already know Obamacare has been a boon for hacks from the Democratic […]
[…] other words, he was yet another corrupt insider who used the law to line his own pockets. I suspect he’s laughing all the way to the […]
[…] For all intents and purposes, big government in Washington has created a niche market for insiders who learn the specialized skill of transferring money from those who earned it to those with political pull. […]
[…] it also has to be one of the worst. The legislation is a toxic stew of spending, taxes, regulation, cronyism, and intervention, and it was based on the absurd theory that you solve government-caused problems […]
[…] let’s not forget that some people are getting very rich from Obamacarewhile the rest of us lose our insurance or pay higher […]
[…] let’s not forget that some people are getting very rich from Obamacarewhile the rest of us lose our insurance or pay higher […]
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[…] Here’s an example of how Obamacare has lined the pockets of some DC […]
[…] still part of the parasite class. Just like the former Obama Administration officials that are now getting rich serving as advisers and lobbyists helping clients deal with Obamacare. These people may not get paychecks from the government, but they sure as heck get paychecks […]
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[…] The latest example of Washington graft is the way that Obamacare has turned into a get-rich-quick scheme for DC […]
I fear for my children and grand children. All we can do is prepare them for a world that will be a whole lot worse than the on they entered. The question we must ask ourselves at this point is: Are we willing to sacrifice some of our comfort as we enter our waning years to ensure that they still have a country? It would mean giving up those comfy government subsidies…and it’s hard to give up money that you have come to rely on. Just how serious are we about this problem? Because if we are willing to give up the cush that we have- then- and only then- we are able to say that those who do not work do not get freebies either.
Reblogged this on News You May Have Missed and commented:
Obamacare: A Get-Rich-Quick Scheme for Washington Insiders
Reblogged this on This Got My Attention and commented:
As with most Big Government projects the benefit most the friends of Big Government. The rest of us are just there to pay for their party.
if Obamacare is defunded… and implementation is stalled… a future congress might well repudiate it… truth be told… you have to work with the tools at hand… and for the time being gridlock is all we have… if tea party/libertarian republicans can make gains next year… the future might begin to look a little brighter… there are no guarantees… only opportunities…
@V-MAX>>… we need to get rid of political figures who violate their oath to support our constution(sic)…
This is not possible, people like me have been gerrymandered out of our votes. The ACA should be repudiated, not just defunded. The “give me free stuff” is in ascendance and the produce stuff is in decline. I have hope, but it is based on faith and not knowledge.
the solution to most of our problems is constitutional governance… we need to get rid of political figures who violate their oath to support our constution… it’s our ace in the hole… but it is often overlooked when dealing with the minutia of public policy… there is a move afoot to defeat Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky’s primary… if it works… senate leadership will change hopefully for the better… obamacare can and should be defunded… congress just needs leadership committed to constitutional principals and a willingness to exercise it’s authority given under the supreme law of the land…………
The problem of politicians and lobbyists is a secondary collateral problem. Mandatory collectivism is the intrinsic interest of politicians and lobbyists. Trying to extricate this interest from politics is like trying to convince a shark to turn vegetarian.
The underlying problem is an electorate that has turned collectivist and thus acquired the tendency to take every issue, major, minor, economic, social — politicize it, put it up for yes/no vote and impose the outcome on everyone. That requires the services of ever more and more politicians which will predictably work to convince you that what you need is ever more collectivism. Once the electorate turns to coercive collectivism, democracy degenerates into “pitchfork democracy” semi-totalitarianism, oppression and — most importantly — low growth, which mathematically leads to decline.
Worst of all, this is a vicious cycle which once entered will likely run its course to decline. The main way to get immediate personal benefit in a collectivist system is to engage it, i.e. take your personal interest, politicize it, try to form a majority and impose it. The cycle of collectivism, ever lower motivation to real, exceptional, productive work becomes unbreakable. Things went south for the US after 9/11 fulfilling the predictable collectivist implosion hopes of terrorists. But 2008 was the year that Americans pushed collectivism past the point of no return. 2008 was the year that American hopes for continued top worldwide prosperity jumped the shark.
[…] Obamacare: A Get-Rich-Quick Scheme for Washington Insiders (danieljmitchell.wordpress.com) […]
You know this cr*p is really starting to wear down my girlish innocence; we are being looted on a scale not seen since reconstruction. What entity has any standing to make it stop? Does any entrenched interest *want* to make it stop? Our leaders won’t lead, and our pillagers won’t ever walk away until they finally kill the host.
Reblogged this on Public Secrets and commented:
When government tries to control the economy, the real winners are those who can manipulate the laws in their favor. As in so many cases, it’s true with Obamacare, too.