Barons of the Beltway

Inside the Princely World of Our Washington Elite - and How to Overthrow Them

By: Michelle Fields

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Our Founding Fathers rejected the notion of royalty and fought against extravagance, pomp, and circumstance. Today in Washington, members of the United States government live like royalty and enjoy lifestyle perks that would make Marie Antoinette envious.

This book exposes our government's shocking waste, its corruption, and the serious detachment between our elected officials and reality. It looks at the hidden perks, the freebies, and the ego stroking that define life for a political class that is out of touch and out to lunch. Our public servants are chauffeured to their Capitol Hill offices even when they live only two blocks away. They enjoy their own taxpayer-subsidized Senate Hair Care Services, travel on their own subway, vacation with their families in exotic locations for free, and exempt themselves and their friends from the laws that they create. Many of them pay family members through their PACs, campaigns, or congressional offices. They divert millions of dollars of federal contracts and earmarks to their children and siblings. And they send their campaign funds straight into their families' pocketbooks.

©2016 Michelle Fields (P)2016 Highbridge, a division of Recorded Books

biased

Biased language and a personal attacks. I don't even like the Clinton's but the language used about them betrays a bias coloring the entire book as biased. Unfortunate. I really wanted to know how to overthrow the Barons of the Beltway! I'd like an update by the author about the emoluments clause and taxpayer money spent by current administration and nepotism within the ranks. The book uses inflammatory rhetoric and has no real solutions, other than voting. Awareness of corruption is indeed important but I'd like a more unbiased look at government overspending.