D.C. Has A Different Economy From The Rest of America
Jason Linkins reports that D.C. is the only place where people think the economy is just dandy, since that's where the politicos, lobbyists, and people looking for big handouts live:
A less remarked-upon bit of polling from Gallup is this bit here, in which they set out to gauge the nation's "economic confidence." What they found was remarkably consistent -- state by state, there are more people lacking in confidence than there are people who feel the economy has turned around.So once again, the real story is, "Terrible Economy Presents Problems For Ordinary Americans." But if you don't see those stories, there's a reason why, and it has everything to do with the one outlier in Gallup's findings. If you want a hint as to where that outlier is, consider this: every single one of this poll's respondents said they were currently employed. In every state, Gallup spoke to people who are at least fortunate enough to have a job ("87,634 employed adults, aged 18 and older, conducted from January-June 2011").
So with that in mind, what part of America do you imagine has the highest concentration of employed people who don't have personal relationships with people who are unemployed?
Yes, it seems that the one and only place in America where anyone has any confidence in the economy also happens to be Washington, D.C., home to political elites, the media that covers them, the people who win the relevant contracts and the people who feather their nests lobbying for the laws that impact the other United (in their lack of economic confidence) States Of America.
Here's Catherine Rampell, from The New York Times' Economix blog:
The biggest gap between the District of Columbia and the rest of the country is created by the second question used to create the Economic Confidence Index, on whether the economy is getting better or worse.In every state, a majority of residents think the economy is getting worse. In the nation’s capital, however, a full 60 percent of people think the economy is getting better.
D.C. Residents Haven't Done Anything to Help the American People
The folks in D.C. have done nothing to fix America's economic problems. See this and this. They have paid lip service to fighting unemployment, but their policies have only made it worse. They have thrown trillions at the giant banks - many of them overseas - but said no to helping Main street. Their policies have led to greater inequality than we've had since years before the Great Depression - higher than in Egypt, Tunisia, or Yemen or third world banana republics. And they have helped Wall Street cover up its massive, economy-killing fraud.
They Have, However, Been Helping Themselves
Indeed, D.C. politicians make big money by selling out the American people. While they are good at acting like they care about the little guy, they actually couldn't care less about the average American, and have no problem picking his pocket at the first opportunity.
And see this must-read list; and this one.
Like A Separate Country ... Which Doesn't Care About Americans
D.C. is like a separate country ... one which really doesn't care about the American people.No wonder:
Postscript: Some of the biggest fat cats live in wealthy suburbs in Virginia and Maryland, and - as Linkins notes - many D.C. residents are not as well off as the politicos and lobbyists.
But the general principle still holds.
Thanks for running this most telling piece of real journalism.
ReplyDeleteAnd how would we know this if not for you?
Again, my thanks!
And I'm running it at my place ASAP.
If anything could start the movement for some "real" change, this has got to be pretty close.
"Throw the rascals out!"
S
I understand that like 2/3 of the population of Washington D.C. is low class and minority (mostly black people), so I think this poll must reflect only "the city", the white affluent districts, because I seriously doubt that 2/3 of working class African-Americans think that the economy is "dandy".
ReplyDelete"D.C. Residents Haven't Done Anything to Help the American People"
ReplyDeleteThat is an exceedingly poor choice of words. There's roughly 600,000 DC residents. Probably less than 5% have the power to do anything about the US economy, and most of those have only a minimal amount of power. On top of that, a large number of the people who work in DC AND have a significant amount of power live outside the city proper.
Great observation, with the caveat that the black ghetto alongside it is also a third world country not attached to the US. I drove through it in 1979 and it seemed endless and hopeless then, I can't imagine the bleak lawlessness of it now. No one ever hears anything about it, nor do they have the same voting rights as states do. This is an area where chunks of plaster fall from ceilings in public schools, fountains and toilets don't function, and those are probably the good schools.
ReplyDeleteI think it was DeToqueville who noted that the demise of France was when all the national assembly were bidden by Napoleon to come to Paris and live, rather than reside among those they represented. They should never be let out of sight.
I hope it's becoming clear that Washingont DC is a rogue banking and military regime; the individual American states are the provinces tricked into submission with political theater; and the rest of the world is a patchwork of conquered territories in the Middle East, South America, and Asia that pay tribute to the new Rome on the Potomic
ReplyDelete