# Let the sequester cuts take place, and if I perish, I perish. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 28, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632 "2013-02-28T15:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/101 "2013-03-14T15:14:34Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > **Shodan** , did you really not get the point about the ripple effects on people whose living comes from providing concerts, restaurant meals, or domestic service, etc.? Or on the other people whose living depends on providing things and services to _them_, etc.? Silly rabbit: trickle-down only works for tax cuts for the rich. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/102 "2013-03-14T16:33:07Z")
In 2012 I had to take most Fridays off without pay because business was slow. It looks like that may be coming again this year. I took a second job to make up for it. Count me among those who don’t have much sympathy that government workers will have to take come cuts. “You don’t understand, DJ, now they won’t have that money to spend at restaurants and clothes and cars and stuff.” That’s right, somebody else who earned that money will be able to keep it and spend it at a restaurant. The counties surrounding DC are the wealthiest in the nation. I’m supposed to be twisted in a knot with worry and rage that [Loudoun County](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States) will have to take some hits for once. Boo effin’ hoo. These cuts are the best economic policy Obama has proposed since he took office. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/103 "2013-03-14T17:06:30Z")
Government workers earn their money no different from private sector workers. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/104 "2013-03-14T17:23:20Z")
> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > These cuts are the best economic policy Obama has proposed since he took office. That’s utter nonsense. It may feel cathartic to you if you don’t differentiate between vital and wasteful, but it’s pretty clear that it’s a profoundly stupid idea. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/105 "2013-03-14T17:34:15Z")
> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > In 2012 I had to take most Fridays off without pay because business was slow. It looks like that may be coming again this year. I took a second job to make up for it. > > Count me among those who don’t have much sympathy that government workers will have to take come cuts. If the government workload has eased to the point that workers would be paid to sit around and have nothing to do, then we should lay off government workers. Of course the workforce has to be sized to the workload. And if a worker isn’t doing their job well, they should be fired. I don’t know that anyone would argue otherwise. But, for example, furloughs hit people working at the Department of Defense. Did the wars suddenly end? Did we just cancel a bunch of expensive weapons systems? Close a bunch of bases? No. How about air traffic controllers? Have airlines cut back on flights? Airports been closed? No. What about FBI agents? Are they sitting idle because there’s no more crime fighting to be done? Nope. Reacting to your unfortunate job cutbacks by saying that other people should be in your same boat is simply wishing ill on others. And maybe someone on this board has earned a lot of overtime in the last year or two: does that mean we should pay Federal workers big bonuses? If Federal workers are supposed to enjoy the ups and downs of selected workers in the private sector, that saw cuts both ways, right? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/106 "2013-03-14T17:42:24Z")
Upon reading **DJ Motorbike’s** post above, I really think that most conservatives are completely ignorant of the fact that we have been consistently shedding public sector jobs (except during the census) since the economic collapse. I should be shocked, but we keep hearing and seeing evidence that many people, including elected officials, do not know basic and important facts about the economy, employment, deficit and debt. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/107 "2013-03-14T17:48:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This kind of thing is why it is a little hard to take complaints about the cuts seriously. > > “If the sequester happens, I won’t be able to go to concerts, eat out in restaurants, and I will have to get rid of the servant!” > > Oh, the humanity. > > Regards, > Shodan Again, you are missing the point here. It’s not about the government workers, especially not the ones who are doing well. They are largely educated and motivated, will eventually transition into better positions, and have hopefully built up enough savings to manage a modest lifestyle until then. But the cuts will have ramifications far wider than that, and that is a problem. The housekeeper that had 20 hours of appointments now has 18, making for a 10% pay cut. If she provides services to, say, 3 government employees who drop her (likely in DC), her business is going to fail, and she may end up on food stamps. The lunch spot downtown that loses 90% of their business on furlough Friday? Guess what happens to their entire staff. The guy who lives next to three houses that have been foreclosed on? His property value is going down too. And so are all of his neighbors. It’s fairly quick for drugs and violence to retake the many neighborhoods here that have been climbing towards middle class. If you think it’s fun to stick it to our civil servants, that’s fine. But you have to realize you are cutting off your nose to spite your face here. There are ways to make cuts that are graduated and sustainable, that can be absorbed by the economy and direct the workers into the private sector. But this form of cut will not be absorbed without a lot of pain from everyone, and will ultimately delay our economic recovery. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/108 "2013-03-14T17:57:44Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Again, you are missing the point here. No, I get the point exactly. You would like money to be taken from the taxpayer because you want to spend it on restaurants and servants for yourself, instead of letting the taxpayer spend it on whatever he or she wants to spend it on. I disagree that spending on art galleries in Washington DC is more important than, say, restaurants in the towns and cities where those who earned the money live. So if you have to do your own cleaning - boo hoo. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/109 "2013-03-14T17:58:08Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Upon reading **DJ Motorbike’s** post above, I really think that most conservatives are completely ignorant of the fact that we have been consistently shedding public sector jobs (except during the census) since the economic collapse. > > I should be shocked, but we keep hearing and seeing evidence that many people, including elected officials, do not know basic and important facts about the economy, employment, deficit and debt. It’s worse than not knowing facts. They \*know \*made-up facts that are fed to them by RW media. If it wasn’t so dangerous it would be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/110 "2013-03-14T18:06:11Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I get the point exactly. You would like money to be taken from the taxpayer because you want to spend it on restaurants and servants for yourself, instead of letting the taxpayer spend it on whatever he or she wants to spend it on. Which, given that most of it would be going to the extra rich who don’t need to spend money, means stocks. I think its better going to cleaning lady and diner operators. Hardly anyone who works in government, except the most senior political appointees, makes enough money to hire anyone but a once a week cleaning lady, and most not that. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/111 "2013-03-14T18:43:30Z")
I like the idea of telling the joint chiefs that for every dollar their branch cuts, we will give them $0.50 of discretionary budget that they can allocate any way they want (within reason). There are entire weapons systems that the military doesn’t particularly care for and would be willing to give up for a pair of warm socks (or more realistically a few more robots). ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/112 "2013-03-14T19:15:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I get the point exactly. You would like money to be taken from the taxpayer because you want to spend it on restaurants and servants for yourself, instead of letting the taxpayer spend it on whatever he or she wants to spend it on. > > I disagree that spending on art galleries in Washington DC is more important than, say, restaurants in the towns and cities where those who earned the money live. > > So if you have to do your own cleaning - boo hoo. > > Regards, > Shodan We get it, you have a burning hard on for government workers. Can we just assume that from now on and you don’t need to post until you have something new to say? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/113 "2013-03-14T20:21:01Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > I’m not going to get into semantic quibbling over whether or not it was a tax increase. > Taxes collected went up. The difference is hardly semantic. Its like saying that extending the unemployment benefit forever (but at a lower rate) is actually an unemplyment benefits cut because your unemplyment went down after 100 weeks. The tax rate wasn’t increased, their tax holiday just expired. > [@Kearsen](#): > > Sure, the fact that the debt ceiling would not have gotten raised without the sequester (where you claim 0 culpability) has nothing to do with the fact that the deal that was agreed to (by The Democrats) was to make budget cuts. > We have Rebublicans agreeing to an increase in tax revenue, The Democrats agreeing to cutting spending, the increase in tax revenue has been accepted, the cuts haven’t been Well, then they should have agreed to the tax increases when they still had the leverage shouldn’t they. Now that they have agreed to tax increases when taxes were going to increase EVEN MORE, there isn’t really any sacrifice on their part now is there? In fact it as far as I can tell, they agreed to a tax cut not a tax increase. I’m pretty sure there have been several rounds of spending cuts that we have seen over the last few years. And the debt ceiling crisis was entirely a Republican manufactured problem as far as I can tell. > [@newcomer](#): > > I would ask more pointed question - if not now, when do opponets of cuts think cuts should be made? 2020? 2050? When the economy can sustain them. The biggest fiscal problem we have now is neither taxing nor spending, it is the economy. If we can get back to a normal economy, we have much less spending in social safety net expenditures and more tax revenue from higher income. > [@newcomer](#): > > Some would argue that economy cannot get back to sure footing BECAUSE cuts are not being made. I hope we can agree that the idea to spend your way out recession is just a theory and not an exact science. Its not an exact science but its not wishful thinking either. We know what happens when aggregate supply exceeds aggregate demand by too much for too long. > [@newcomer](#): > > We don’t have to go that far back and the times are not that simple. …Who knows maybe Obama’s plan does measure up to Clinton’s but I don’t see it. Obama has been far too conciliarory with “party before country” Republicans (or to be a bit more neutral, “political philosophy before country” Republicans). > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > That _is_ the reasonable place. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. No its not and no we don’t (at least not the way you think). Unless you believe that we have been paying too much in taxes since WWII, we are paying too little in taxes right now both in relation to what other countries pay and in relation to what we have paid in the past. If we have a spending problem it is that we are not spending enough. Its not like we need to pay one group of peopel to dig a ditch and another to fill it up. We have a long list of projects that we could profitably invest in for long term growth. > [@](#): > > That’s as it should be. We _need(ed)_ a hell of a lot more cuts than tax increases. Cite? Our taxes are at historical lows, our non-military/security discreationary spending simply isn’t that high. > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > If we as a nation always took the position that we can’t trim government spending because it will cause financial pain to some people, then we’ll never trim government spending. Instead government spending will only rise until it spirals out of control, as has happened and is happening in many countries. We cna’t continue to increase spending forever, at least not at the rate that we’ve been increasing it over the past couple generations. Sooner or later there have to be cuts. Those cuts will hurt many people, but they still have to take place. OK, but can we do it when there is a Republican in office for a change? With that said, federal employees are underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts during normal times and the tradeoff was supposed to be a steady paycheck and job security, when everyone else is getting large bonuses . You can’t underpay federal employees during fat times measure them by the same ruler during lean times. > [@Ravenman](#): > > It’s just great that some people expect to have a government staffed by competent, motivated, well-educated, and helpful Americans, and yet expect them to get by on wages where they are challenged to go out to a restaurant once a week. And then if government is filled with people who are only qualified to do work for sub-standard wages, blame the government for employing dolts. Right now, recruiting is not a problem for the government but as soon as the market turns around, the government laobr expenses are either going to have to start matching the private sector or they aren’t going to be able to recruit the way they used to because the perception of job security in exchange for higher pay is going to be shattered. > [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > The counties surrounding DC are the wealthiest in the nation. I’m supposed to be twisted in a knot with worry and rage that [Loudoun County](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States) will have to take some hits for once. Boo effin’ hoo. I doubt the folks in Loudon County work for the federal government. It would be a pretty long commute to DC. > [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Upon reading **DJ Motorbike’s** post above, I really think that most conservatives are completely ignorant of the fact that we have been consistently shedding public sector jobs (except during the census) since the economic collapse. Its mostly at the state and local level. Federal jobs have largely decreased by attrition rather than layoffs. > [@](#): > > I should be shocked, but we keep hearing and seeing evidence that many people, including elected officials, do not know basic and important facts about the economy, employment, deficit and debt. They know, they just don’t find that knowledge convenient. > [@Shodan](#): > > No, I get the point exactly. You would like money to be taken from the taxpayer because you want to spend it on restaurants and servants for yourself, instead of letting the taxpayer spend it on whatever he or she wants to spend it on. > > I disagree that spending on art galleries in Washington DC is more important than, say, restaurants in the towns and cities where those who earned the money live. We are not talking about taxing people who would otherwise be spending that money on consumption, we are talking about taxing people who would be shoveling that money back into the record high stock market. I would be willing to trade a little bit of growth in the capital markets for a bit more growth in emplyment. > [@rogerbox](#): > > We get it, you have a burning hard on for government workers. Can we just assume that from now on and you don’t need to post until you have something new to say? I always wonder why people who think that federal workers have it so good don’t just become federal workers. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/114 "2013-03-14T20:24:49Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I get the point exactly. You would like money to be taken from the taxpayer because you want to spend it on restaurants and servants for yourself, instead of letting the taxpayer spend it on whatever he or she wants to spend it on. > > I disagree that spending on art galleries in Washington DC is more important than, say, restaurants in the towns and cities where those who earned the money live. > > So if you have to do your own cleaning - boo hoo. > > Regards, > Shodan Excuse me? I work for a private organization. I was using a personal example illustrating how un- and underemployment affects more than those getting the pay cut. DC has the 14th largest regional economy in the world. It’s the 4th largest in the US. Whether you like this or not, if its economy falters due to a sudden shock, it’s gonna hurt Main Street more than it will hurt either one of us. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/115 "2013-03-14T20:35:39Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Again, it is not just government workers who will feel the pain of it. This will have a ripple effect that will affect entire industries and communities. When consumer spending goes down, everyone’s income goes down. > > If you want to cut government spending, there are smart ways to do it, and there are dumb ways to do it. The smart way would be to measure it out gradually in ways that the economy can absorb.The smart way would make sure it’s done such that there are places for displaced workers to go. It’d be smart to do it during better economic times rather than worse ones. > > The way we are choosing is a spectacularly dumb way to do it. It’s a way that will send a very-much unneeded shock through a delicate, tenuously recovering, economy. > > Not that that matters to the architects of the “starve the beat” movement. We are the ones who get to pay, with our paychecks, for their madcap schemes. I agree with you. Most of the conservative posters reading this board agree with you. What we don’t agree with and what we don’t understand is, where is the outrage at your liberal counterparts for failing to propose any serious method of handling this before now? ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/116 "2013-03-14T20:40:41Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If the government workload has eased to the point that workers would be paid to sit around and have nothing to do, then we should lay off government workers. Of course the workforce has to be sized to the workload. And if a worker isn’t doing their job well, they should be fired. I don’t know that anyone would argue otherwise. > > But, for example, furloughs hit people working at the Department of Defense. Did the wars suddenly end? Did we just cancel a bunch of expensive weapons systems? Close a bunch of bases? No. > > How about air traffic controllers? Have airlines cut back on flights? Airports been closed? No. > > What about FBI agents? Are they sitting idle because there’s no more crime fighting to be done? Nope. > > Reacting to your unfortunate job cutbacks by saying that other people should be in your same boat is simply wishing ill on others. And maybe someone on this board has earned a lot of overtime in the last year or two: does that mean we should pay Federal workers big bonuses? If Federal workers are supposed to enjoy the ups and downs of selected workers in the private sector, that saw cuts both ways, right? Now we just need to figure out what the function of the government is/needs to be, easy right? ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/117 "2013-03-14T20:54:47Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I always wonder why people who think that federal workers have it so good don’t just become federal workers. They’re either too principled, or they’re lying jerks. Hmmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/118 "2013-03-15T14:20:14Z")
> [@Damuri Ajashi](#): > > OK, but can we do it when there is a Republican in office for a change? No. Spiraling budget deficits will eventually bring financial disaster regardless of which party votes for them. > [@](#): > > With that said, federal employees are underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts during normal times and the tradeoff was supposed to be a steady paycheck and job security, when everyone else is getting large bonuses . You can’t underpay federal employees during fat times measure them by the same ruler during lean times. The belief that government employees are underpaid is a common one, but it is untrue. Research shows that federal employees on average get more money and benefits than private-sector workers with comparable skills. So do government employees at the state and local levels. ([Cite](http://reason.com/blog/2012/04/11/three-3-new-studies-on-how-public-sector), [Cite](http://reason.com/archives/2012/04/11/bad-apples)) From the second link: You get no points for guessing that the BLS numbers unambiguously show public-sector workers making more than equivalent private-sector workers. Total employer compensation cost in 2011 averaged $40.76 per hour for state and local workers; for private industry workers it was $28.24 per hour. The disparities are also big for federal workers. A janitor working for Uncle Sam makes $30,110 a year, while his or her private-sector peer makes $24,188. Federal graphic designers, “recreation workers,” and even P.R. flacks all make between 50 percent and 100 percent more than their private-sector colleagues. ABC’s sources faulted those stats for failing to “take into account workers’ level of education.” … In January the Congressional Budget Office, comparing the compensation of federal and private-sector employees, found it is actually the least educated public workers who get the biggest pay bump. Public workers with a high school degree or lower make 21 percent more in wages than equivalent private workers; those with less than a bachelor’s degree earn 15 percent more; and those with a bachelor’s degree receive 2 percent more. Only at the level of master’s degrees and higher do private wages outpace public. (Benefits are much higher for public workers at all education levels.) ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/119 "2013-03-15T15:09:26Z")
> [@Damuri Ajashi](#): > > I doubt the folks in Loudon County work for the federal government. It would be a pretty long commute to DC. Lame. According to the link **DC Motorbike** posted, the Virginia counties closest to D.C. account for the three wealthiest counties in the country and five of the top eight. It could be an amazing coincidence that so much wealth gathers around the nation’s capital, but somehow I doubt it. Many people live in Virginia and commute to D.C., from both Loudoun county and others. I have friends and relatives among them. Moreover, one doesn’t need to reach D.C. to work for the government. I’m pretty sure [this Virginia building](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/The_Pentagon_US_Department_of_Defense_building.jpg) has a few government employees. [This one](http://cryptome.org/eyeball/cia-dc/cia-dc-cia-hq-south.jpg) too. Thirdly, the federal beast includes not only government employees, but also legions of contractors, lobbyists and other people sucking the federal teat. Many of the institutions that employ those people are located in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632/120 "2013-03-15T15:56:15Z")
DC is also the highest educated metro area in the US. I would guess that accounts for much of the prosperity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-sequester-cuts-take-place-and-if-i-perish-i-perish/651632.md?page=7)