Freedom From Reality II : The New Upper Class

Some readers may know, that Pittsburgh, PA was selected by team Obama to be the location of the September G20 meeting, which finally invites countries like India, China and Brazil to the conference table since the formerly rich exploiters have to beg money off them.

Team Obama, gave the large number of green buildings in the Pittsburgh region as a major reason for the choice but it's pretty clear they had to reach for a city that is not visibly depressed.

The selection exposes the openly delusional and childish nature of the administration, which seems filled with the permanent bureaucrats and elite tenured academics who seem to make up a new upper class, free from the harsh realities most people are facing. Pittsburgh's job base relies heavily on major universities, retired people living on Social Security checks and a massive "health care industrial complex", which transfuses vast amounts of government cash into the region.

Actually, the last remaining "green lawns" in our economy seem to be State capitals, college towns and areas around major army and government facilities. Team Obama sees these places as the model for the new America.

Leon County, Fla. — Home to the state capital, Tallahassee. Population 264,000. Percentage of government workers 20. 6.2 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 7.26 (4th lowest in Florida).

Champaign County, Illinois — Location of the University of Illinois. Population 193,600. Percentage of government workers 18.5. 7.1 percent unemployment in March and an AP Stress Index Score of 7.87 (ninth lowest in Illinois).

Johnson County, Iowa — Location of the University of Iowa. Population 128,000. Percentage of government workers 25.6. 3.6 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 3.89 (lowest in Iowa).

Riley County, Kansas — Home to U.S. Army's Fort Riley and Kansas State University. Population: 71,000. Percentage of government workers 17.4. 3.4 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 3.71 (12th lowest in Kansas).

Washtenaw County, Mich. — Home to the University of Michigan. Population 347,000. Percentage of government workers 19.1. 7.4 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 9.25 (second lowest in Michigan).

Los Alamos County, N.M. — Los Alamos National Laboratory location. Population 18,000. Percentage of government workers 30.7. 2.9 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 3.28 (second lowest in New Mexico).

Albany County, N.Y. — Has both the state capital in Albany and a State University of New York campus. Population 298,000. Percentage of government workers 22.6. 7 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 8.4 (seventh lowest in New York).

Orange County, N.C. — University of North Carolina located here. Population 126,000. Percentage of government workers 26.2. 6.5 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 7.13 (lowest in North Carolina).

Dane County, Wisc. — Both University of Wisconsin and the state capital, Madison, are here. Population 482,000. Percentage of government workers 16.3. 5.5 percent unemployment in March and an AP Stress Index Score of 6.34 (lowest in Wisconsin).

Albany County, Wyo. — Location of the University of Wyoming. Population: 32,700. Percentage of government workers 21.9. 2.9 percent March unemployment and an AP Stress Index Score of 3.05 (second lowest in Wyoming).

Perhaps it's time to check out the water supply to these few plush lawns-- Ooooooooops, it looks pretty dry.



Virtually all the major states and cities in America have budgets that are structurally bankrupt and were taped together by lies, one time accounting gimmicks and dependent on volatile tax flows. Add to this, the long term damage to private endowment funds and personal college savings and one has the recipe for severe problems.