Who's Really Making Out Like Bandits in Obama's Economy?

Think it's just Wall Street moguls that are doing well, seeing the fed has been pumping 85 Billion a month into the stock market. No.

Surrounding Washington D.C. are 10 of the riches counties in the country. Flush with money, coming straight out of your pocket and into theirs. Government policies like TARP, the fake stimulus, and Obamacare have been very good for Washington’s ruling class.

Check out this map showing 10 of the 15 richest counties in America are the ones surrounding our nation’s imperial capital.

image via International Liberty

Who would have guessed that the wages of sin are so high?

Here are some interesting nuggets from a report in the Washington Business Journal:

"D.C. residents are enjoying a personal income boom. The District’s total personal income in 2012 was $47.28 billion, or $74,733 for each of its 632,323 residents, according to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s Economic and Revenue Trends report for November. The U.S. average per capita personal income was $43,725."

Why is income in D.C. so much higher?  

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.

"In terms of pure wages, D.C., on a per capita basis, was 79 percent higher than the national average in 2012 — $36,974 to $20,656. …Employee benefits were 102 percent higher in D.C. than the U.S. average in 2012, $7,514 to $3,710. Proprietor’s income, 137 percent higher — $9,275 to $3,906. …The numbers suggest D.C. residents are living the high life."

Below is a chart from Zero Hedge comparing income growth for both D.C. and the nation as a whole over the last few decades.  It shows how D.C. income grew faster than the rest of the nation during the Bush years, and then even more dramatically during the Obama years. 

MSN Money has a report that 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.

this from Real Clear Policy on feeding from the public trough:

"What makes Washington especially profitable is that its only products are the laws, rules, and regulations that it has the power to force everyone else to follow. …We seem to be sliding toward what the authors term “extractive” institutions. That means government is using its power to benefit a handful of influential individuals at the expense of everyone else."

And let’s not forget that some people are getting very very rich from Obamacare while the rest of us lose our insurance or pay higher prices. Washington’s wealth comes at the expense of everyone else. The politicians seize our money at the point of a gun (or simply print more of it) to finance an opulent imperial city.

h/t Donald Sensing