D.C. has lost touch with rest of America

A recent report shows median income broken down by counties across America. There were six counties that had median incomes more than twice the national average. Four of these counties were in the area that surrounds Washington, D.C. Rather strange considering this area is practically devoid of any industry and produces virtually nothing; it does, however, have one of the all-time great marketing plans, that is, send us your tax dollars or go to jail.

We often see a lot of stats coming out of Washington, but the one I would really like to see would be elected officials’ net worth prior to being elected, their accumulated salary over say 10 years in office, and their net worth now. I can’t help but think it would go along way in explaining why someone would spend several million dollars on a campaign to win a job that pays $150,000 a year.

There is a huge disconnect between the capital and the rest of the country, and some recent developments show this very well. Congress and their staffs recently voted to have 75 percent of their laughably named “Affordable” Care Act costs subsidized (that’s D.C. speak for someone else pays) by the U.S. taxpayers, the vast majority of whom don’t want anything to do with Obamacare. It also appears that you can’t mess up bad enough to lose your job. The midlevel managers at the State Department and IRS who were the early scapegoats for their department’s recent scandals received their punishment, which seem to be extended paid vacations.

It is time for Americans to reread our history books. Between ignorance and even more apathy we have lost sight of our early days when we fought to escape the ruling class and coined phrases regarding “taxation without representation.”

Marc Thomsen

Elk Grove Village