EDITORIAL: Beltway largess

Voters on Tuesday sent a wake-up call to the Washington establishment that for the past few decades has grown fat and happy courtesy of taxpayers.

But the extent to which those inside the Beltway live the high life while much of the rest of the nation remains mired in a feeble recovery almost decade after the Great Recession might surprise even the most ardent Trump supporter.

Kevin D. Williamson of the National Review noted recently that Washington is now the nation’s leading consumer per capita of fine wines, while also becoming one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation, far outpacing pricey California locales such as Los Angeles and San Diego.

Further, he writes, one in five new vehicles sold in the leafy nearby suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, where many D.C. workers live, is from a luxury marque (about a third higher than the national average), with BMW leading the way and Mercedes-Benz second.

Mr. Williamson correctly notes that in other cities and states with such wealth, you can at least point to some economic engine to explain the prosperity. For example, the technology sector in California and high finance in New York City drive those markets. What about D.C.?

“One thing that drives the capital and its environs is those very large federal paychecks,” he writes, “which now amount to about $90,000 a year in money wages, and just under $125,000 a year in total compensation.” And that’s just on average.

Indeed, Mr. Williamson cites an alarming statistic: In 2000, the average American worker’s median compensation was 74 percent of the median compensation for a federal employee; now, the average American worker — you know, the taxpayer — makes 55 percent of the average federal employee.

And what, exactly, does D.C. produce to explain that largess?

“Washington builds no iPhones. It doesn’t really build much of anything, and it doesn’t create any wealth — it just takes it,” Mr. Williamson said.

Conservative writer and radio commentator Dana Loesch recently released a book whose title perfectly describes the D.C. mindset: “Flyover Nation: You Can’t Run a Country You’ve Never Been To.” Washington is living in that altered reality, most of it on the taxpayer dime.

And that goes a long way toward explaining the Donald Trump phenomenon.