No way! You won’t believe where America’s highest-income households are located

Twitchy ^ | December 6, 2018 | Sarah D.

[Katya]

It’s a fallacy to think its all government employees, most of them aren’t earning enough to live in some of these areas. It is however true, that people who work for government contractors, and those that lobby via firms or associations are earning top dollar.

[jeffersondem]

“All one needs to do is drive around Northern Virginia, NoVa, and the place reeks of greenbacks. Lots of fancy cars, and construction cranes all courtesy of the tax payers outside the DC Swamp.”

Visited family in Northern Virginia several years ago. The place was awash in new construction of million dollar homes. I'm talking thousands and thousands of them being added to the already massive hives. There must have been two federal government lawyers living in each one to pay the mortgage.

Each morning and afternoon the interstate highway was chocked and choked with federal bosses and drones moving about on their way to or from writing new rules and picking up big paychecks.

Being there and seeing this first hand helped me understand why there is little hope to make America great again. Maybe if there is some type of Old Testament event.

[DiogenesLamp]

Each morning and afternoon the interstate highway was chocked and choked with federal bosses and drones moving about on their way to or from writing new rules and picking up big paychecks.

It is good to be in the King's favor. Easier than working for a living.

Slavery didn't stop, it just transformed into Washington running all of it.

[Lumper20]

The Federal Gov has trashed America for AFGE union power of ever agency plus control of Gov Contracts for pay under the table etc. Booz, Alexander, Hamilton, add Boeing Corp plus others pay to play.

[Brian Griffin]

Moscow is downhill from all the rest of Russia.

[Albion Wilde]

A very high % of the nation’s high-functioning sociopaths are attracted to Northern Virginia and eastern Maryland.

DC is not in Eastern Maryland, if that's what you are implying.

[cherry]

don’t offend the govt workers...they deserve their fat wages, obscene insane pensions and wonderful bennies because they’re better than we commoners..

[cherry]

its all govt workers....every single govt worker be it the schools, the fire stations, the military etc......

we all know this....we just don't want to admit to it....

no govt worker ever has to worry about being fired very easily.....their wages never go down, their bennies are always there and then we have the pensions at 20/30 yrs which is practically their whole paycheck....

we are communist Russia and its the beautiful vacationers on the Caspian sea vs the miners.....and we are the miners....just like in the Hunger games...

[MarMema]

France is our future, folks.

I hope we can be that courageous when the time comes. And we have guns.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Why would I not believe this?

The government class that rules us lives there. Taking money, bleeding out the golden goose, is much more lucrative than trying to earn it by creating value. Isn’t fascism wonderful?

This is why the government class will simply wait out Trump and refuse to do anything to reform itself. They make the rules...and they give us the fake “freedom” to vote for our rulers...who are all the same (and if we accidently send them someone who isn’t the same, they wall them off and isolate and neurtralize them like the body attacks a foreign entity.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

“Note, not democrat or republican, just left.”

Wealth (for the privileged) via Marxism.

Ain’t it a great country?

[nicollo]

The worst of it is that all this State-Sponsored high income also supports a huge illegal immigrant population. Typical Third-Worldism with two classes: Hyper Rich and Hyper Poor (which is where California has landed).

[taxpayerfatigue]

You’ve perfectly nailed the status of “we, the People”.

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "Pay attention BroJoeK.
This is what it's always been about."

In 1860 Southern & Northern Democrats had no problems with the "DC swamp" so long as they ruled over it.
But even the mere threat of Lincoln (or today's Trump) Republicans taking charge in DC drove Democrats absolutely stark raving mad.

So Democrats have always loved political power when they exercise it, and have often gone nuts when thrown out.

That's what it's always been about.

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "Started in the Civil War.
Power was concentrated in the New York/Washington DC corridor, and has remained there ever since."

No, started long before 1861.
Before 1791 New York City was the US capital, President Washington was inaugurated there.
Washington's mostly Northern Federalists were the majority party.

After 1800 Washington, DC, became the US capital and Jefferson's Southern Democrats ruled the majority, until 1861.

Democrats by their nature love ruling and go nuts when thrown out of power.

[DiogenesLamp]

In 1860 Southern & Northern Democrats had no problems with the "DC swamp" so long as they ruled over it.

So? Since they were creating most of the tax revenue, I can see why they would want to control the institution that does all the spending.

Where things went sideways was when the Wealthy, Urban Liberal elites gained control of the government, while the South was paying the vast majority of all the taxes.

Tax and spend, with other people's money. Borrow huge sums, run up massive deficits. Now who does that sound like in modern parlance?

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "So? Since they were creating most of the tax revenue,
I can see why they would want to control the institution that does all the spending."

Sadly for DiogenesLamp's theory of everything, our Declaration of Independence never said "all dollars are created equal", meaning those with the most dollars got the most votes.
Instead it says, "all men are created equal", meaning in essence: one man one vote.
The wealthy don't get more votes, even though they can often use their wealth to persuade the rest of us of their viewpoints.

So, what did wealthy Southern tax payers buy with their tax money?
Here are some items:

1. After slaveholder President Jackson's supported "tariff of abominations" in 1828, Southern Democrats voted constant tariff reductions until by 1860 they were down to about half the Jackson levels.

2. In 1846 Southern Democrats supported the Mexican War (which Whig Lincoln opposed) to add Texas a slave state.
   The Mexican war cost 13,000 US lives and $171 million at a time when Federal revenues were about $50 million per year, half "paid for" by Deep South cotton exports.

3. Two dozen US coastal forts protecting Southern ports costing typically $1 million each.
   Fort Pulaski in Georgia is an example:
   
   At the same time only half a dozen forts were built for Northern ports.

4. The 1850 Compromise which made fugitive slave law enforcement a Federal, not state responsibility.

5. The 1854 Gadsden Purchase for $10 million proposed by Southern President Pierce's Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, as a Southern route for his transcontinental railroad.

6. The 1857 SCOTUS Dred Scott decision all but making abolition unconstitutional.

So any claims that wealthy Southerners didn't get their "money's worth" from Federal government are just ludicrous.

[jeffersondem]

“So Democrats have always loved political power when they exercise it, and have often gone nuts when thrown out.”

Really strange, that. Usually human beings hate to have political and economic power. Reminds me after 1865, Republicans poured the nation’s wealth into rebuilding the South - parity is expected anytime in the next half century.

After the war, Republicans disenfranchised themselves in the North, and made sure their former opponents in the South had easy access to political power in Congress. Do you remember that?

Me neither.

[BroJoeK]

jeffersondem: "Really strange, that.
Usually human beings hate to have political and economic power.
Reminds me after 1865..."

Here's what it should remind you of:

In 1788 we had two parties -- pro-Constitution Federalists and anti-Constitution anti-Federalists.
After ratification Federalists lead by Washington & Adams took over Federal government and anti-Federalists lead by Jefferson & Madison became the opposition.

In 1800 Federal government moved to Washington, DC, and Jefferson & Madison's Democrats took over.
The old Federalists soon responded to loss of power by threatening secession, most notably at the Hartford Convention in 1814.
President Madison responded by moving US Army troops to threaten invasion of New England.
The result was secession died and with it the old Federalist party.

So Jefferson/Jackson Democrats ruled in Washington DC until 1860, when the old Federalists & Whigs successors, Republicans, won the election to take over in Washington.
Now it's the Democrats who didn't just threaten secession, they began to declare it, and soon enough, war on the United States.

The difference is: when Federalists threatened secession in 1814, Democrats responded with military force and it destroyed the old Federalist party.
When Democrats seceded and declared war in 1861, Republicans defeated them militarily but far from destroying the Democrat party, in due time R's were defeated by D's Southern (Wilson) & Northern (FDR) "progressive" candidates.

Ever since Republicans take defeat with resignation, introspection and blame ourselves.
Democrats take defeat like a slap in the face, reacting with outrage, aggression & "resistance".

[jeffersondem]

“In 1788 we had two parties — pro-Constitution Federalists and anti-Constitution anti-Federalists. After ratification Federalists lead by Washington & Adams took over Federal government and anti-Federalists lead by Jefferson & Madison became the opposition . . .”

May I suggest you always include in any history lecture your contention that James Madison yapped like a dog. It provides a context for your claim that the “Father of the Constitution” was against the Constitution.