With Queen Elizabeth’s 60^th Anniversary on the throne being celebrated last week, royal watchers across America were glued to televisions and tabloids to hear the details of the lavish events marking the life and reign of a truly historic public figure.   While it’s behavior I don’t quite  understand, royal watching is a hobby for many Americans.  Maybe it’s because monarchy is so foreign to us here in the United States.  It’s something that happens “over there.”  But as the economic crisis continues to threaten American freedom, the question needs be asked, “Is royalty a truly foreign concept or do we have our own American royalty in everything but name?”

I contend that we do.  It’s a Ruling Class and it’s destroying the promise of America.  If you’re reading this, you’re probably not part of it – but you’re paying for it every day.   Understanding who they are is the first step toward doing something about them.  After all, as Jefferson wrote, “An elective despotism is not the government we fought for.” Britain’s monarchy is a source of national unity and pride even in the toughest of times.  Our Ruling Class is a damaging force that is quietly scraping away at the fabric of the country.  They are the cause of our ballooning debt, over-taxation and slide into European-style statism.

It might surprise progressives that the American Ruling Class isn’t the rich.  Progressives, led by President Obama wage a war on those who are successful, wealthy and accomplished for the sake of dividing America.  In fact, the Ruling Class is a complex cabal of seemingly permanent incumbent elected officials, public employee union bosses, and those in large financial institutions who work together to condemn the American taxpayer to generations of obligations they cannot afford.

Looking at the simple math, it is hard to argue, though some may try, that public employee unions have burdened all Americans for the sake of providing job security and Cadillac benefits for a small minority.  Of course, it’s not so small anymore.  Today more than 21 million federal, state, local and school district employees have greater job security, better benefits and often much higher salaries than their private sector counterparts.   It used to be that going into public service was a calling.  Over the last several decades, as governments at all levels grew exponentially, it’s now more of a social program where those lucky enough to get a taxpayer-funded job become part of a special protected class of citizens.

The factory down the road from the state office building may close due to high taxation and its workers out on the street while government workers’ salaries increase with the help of government officials whose job security is then paid for with campaign contributions and Election Day foot soldiers.

The Ruling Class is anchored by a permanent group of incumbent elected officials and unaccountable senior civil servants who cycle after cycle remain fixtures of bad behavior, feeding the unions’ appetite for more workers and benefits the public cannot afford.  Even in a “wave year” like 2010 when America saw large political shifts on the national level, the vast majority of incumbents were reelected.  This is particularly dangerous for America when it happens at the local and state level.

Local and state elected officials are the ones who negotiate and sign on to most of the public employee union contracts in America.  It’s been their instinct for political survival and their fear of union backlash that has permitted millions of employees from having to contribute to their pensions and healthcare, leaving the majority of Americans to foot the bill. This cycle of soaking the taxpayer by government officials and government employees, has been assented to by a public that fails to educate itself about such behavior, fails to engage in the political process, fails to vote, and fails to hold officials accountable. With the breakthroughs in Wisconsin, San Diego and San Jose last week, the tide is shifting, but there is still massive work to be done on this front.

The third segment of the American Ruling Class, our royalty, are the executives who work in collusion with these unaccountable government officials to rewrite the rules of the free market in their favor, using the American taxpayer as a backstop for what should be a completely private enterprise.  This behavior has gained notice among those on the left and the right recently due to the 2008 financial crisis and the Wall Street bailout, but the conditions that created the problem have been developing for years.   It’s not shocking that those who have access to political power and money have influence.  However, here again as the vast majority of Americans work and pay, a few elites manipulate the system for their benefit.  It was legal then.  It’s legal now.  And it’s still going on.

Separate but equal is a fallacy but it still exists in this country.  For all the work to bring about equality in America, little has been done to prevent these three segments of the population from being treated as if on a higher station than others.   The American Royalty’s greed and gluttony is bankrupting America.  Perhaps next time you see a government employee out on his or her union smoke break, you should do as the British do to their royals – bow or curtsy.  And then make it your goal to break the America’s Ruling Class hold, with the first step being in elections at all levels of government. Then you can be sure the Ruling Class will take notice of the American majority.