The Aristocracy of Government

For many years I have criticized the excesses of government spending in the United States. What may have begun as a means of honoring those who serve the public interest, salaries and benefits, has led to a group that sets it’s own pay scale far beyond the average pay of its constituents and a work schedule that amounts to a vacation schedule punctuated with occaisional work. We have created an Aristocracy of Government. Government officials who believe they may legislate the rules for others, but who are beyond the rules and laws they create.

One recent example is the First Lady’s recent trip to Spain. Largely ignored by the mainstream media in the US, it made the papers in the UK, one commentator comparing the First Lady to Marie Antoinette. The trip included hotel accommodations at a Ritz Carlton property and chartered air transportation to and from the King and Queen of Spain’s palace on the island of Majorca. Nice. If you’re royalty. Which our government leaders apparently think they are.

Across a dozen postings on the web, the reported “facts” of the trip vary significantly depending on whose account you read. That is always a disturbing sign. I will ignore the inconsistencies of the reports to focus on what I think is really relevant, the true economic impact of government spending.

The UK writer sets the cost to US taxpayers for the trip around $375,000. That’s a lot of money for a weekend trip anywhere. I’m lucky if I can spend $375. on a weekend trip near home. The trip includes round trip air transportation on a military 757 with Secret Service and a number of White House Staff members. Head count varies, again, depending on who you read.

Now $375,000 would be the equivalent of paying for 10 jobs at $37,500 a year. But since this is taxpayer money, the only way you create those jobs is if you hire more people to work for the US government. Which is what the federal government did with reckless abandon during the current administration’s first 18 months.

What is really surprising is that using the lowest IRS tax rate, 26%, it would require $1,442,308. in wages paid by employers to raise $375,000 in Federal taxes to pay for this trip. That means it takes 38 private sector employees producing something useful and working for a full year at $37,500 in gross income, to raise the tax revenues needed for the President’s wife to spend a weekend in Spain.

Aristocracy as a form of government is defined as “government by a privileged minority…”. Hallmarks of aristocratic government is the belief that the “ruling class” is entitled to their positions. Another is a certain inability to make connections with those ruled. Such as the fact that it is in the “government’s” interest to have high employment because people need to be employed in order to generate taxes.

I don’t think this is the kind of change anyone signed up for.