Business Journal Editorial: Washintgon’s sad disconnect from Americans

Monday, July 26, 2010, 1:49 am

A story that caught our attention recently appeared on the website Politico.com under the headline: “Reality gap: U.S. struggles, D.C. booms.”

The story related results from Politico’s polling of Washington, D.C. elites and it captures perfectly the pervasive arrogance in today’s federal government.

“The massive expansion of government under President Barack Obama has basically guaranteed a robust job market for policy professionals, regulators and contractors for years to come,” Politico writes. “The housing market, boosted by the large number high-income earners in the area, many working in politics and government, is easily outpacing most of the country,” the website said.

We can only wish ours was the same.

Here are some of the poll’s findings:

– Roughly 45 percent of “Washington elites” think the country and economy are headed in the right direction. Only 25 percent of the general population thinks so.

– Incredibly, 74 percent of these 227 “elites” interviewed acknowledged the economic downturn has hurt them less than most Americans. One could fairly ask: “And what are you doing about it?”

– Unemployment in metro Washington is 6 percent, 3.5 percent below the national average and more than five points below California.

– In 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said Politico, reported more than 11,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance associated with layoffs in the auto-industry dominated Flint, Mich. Claims were less than half that in the D.C. district area.

“It’s a sobering reminder of the District’s distance from the epicenters of the Great Recession,” Politico wrote.

Now, the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul will create thousands of new jobs for government and industry lobbyists. So will the health care bill. By one official projection, the federal government in Washington will add 6,500 jobs each year through 2012, Politico said.

No wonder Congress’ approval rating is at a record low of just 11 percent.

Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of new taxes have or will be hitting families and businesses across the board.

It’s hard to imagine what the leaders in Washington are thinking. But it’s never been clearer they aren’t thinking about anyone but themselves.