Washington, a town that produces nothing, is awash in money. D.C. has become a boomtown, a place where politicians, lobbyists, and special interests leverage their crony connections to bag billions in insider perks and government contracts funded by taxpayer money.
Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, Fox News will air Sean Hannity’s one-hour special “Boomtown,” an inside look at how the cancer of cronyism is eroding free market capitalism. The special, co-hosted by Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President and co-founder Peter Schweizer and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon, will rip back the curtain on how Washington, D.C. has become the richest city in America.
“The battle against cronyism is the new front in the war for economic freedom,” says Schweizer. “Big spending politicians have discovered a devastatingly effective way to sink their talons into the competition that fuels capitalism. Building wealth is wonderful, but wealth built on the backs of taxpayers is an affront to free markets.”
Bannon agrees. “It’s a bipartisan problem. But the Obama Administration has taken crony capitalism to a whole new level. Being pro-free markets is not the same thing as being pro big business. ‘Boomtown’ explains the difference.”
Indeed, the explosion of wealth in Washington is undeniable. Consider the following:
- D.C. is the 4th fastest city in the country at minting new millionaires.
- Average income among the top 5% of Washington households is $473,000. That’s the highest among the 50 largest U.S. cities.
- Average income among the top 20% of D.C. households is higher than in every city except San Francisco.
- Between 2007-2008, the amount of money spent on lobbyists jumped by almost $500 million–the biggest jump in the last 15 years by far because of bailout money.
- Only Atlanta and Boston have greater income divides than the D.C. area.
And where is all that wealth flowing? Into the pockets of lobbyists, special interests, and public officials. Indeed, politicians who enter office with modest net worths often exit political life with newfound wealth far in excess of their congressional salaries. How that happens and how it is destroying free market capitalism will all be explored in the Hannity one-hour special “Boomtown” tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET.