Ross Douthat makes a pretty nifty New York Times column out of the fact noted here the other day, that seven of the ten richest counties in America are in the Washington, D.C. area. He writes:
Whence comes this wealth? Mostly from Washington's one major industry: the federal government. Not from direct federal employment, which has risen only modestly of late, but from the growing armies of lobbyists and lawyers, contractors and consultants, who make their living advising and influencing and facilitating the public sector's work. [He doesn't mention the journalists, but they're doing okay too, at least the ones writing for the lobbyist audiences at places like Bloomberg Government and Politico Pro.]...
the wealth of Washington is ultimately extracted from taxpayers more than it is earned. And over the last five years especially, D.C.'s gains have coincided with the country's losses....it doesn't seem like a sign of national health that America's political capital is suddenly richer than our capitals of manufacturing and technology and finance...
For Mitt Romney and the Republican Party, what's happened in Washington these last 10 years should be a natural part of the case against Obamanomics. Our gilded District is a case study in how federal spending often finds its way to the well connected rather than the people it's supposed to help, how every new program spawns an array of influence peddlers, and how easily corporations and government become corrupt allies rather than opponents.
So true, and well put.
