It's a proud day to be an American, as our nation's capital has overtaken San Jose as the country's wealthiest metropolitan area. Isn't this inspiring, to see the most hated city on Earth sucking up the remaining few dollars in America's cash pool by attracting more and more lawyers and fixers to do the hard work of ruining the rest of the country? Throw your beloved diamond-shaped federal office park of a capital a celebratory parade, you other, poorer people!

Washington, Bloomberg reports, "has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046." Wait! There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. All of the growth is coming from the sort of productive, value-adding, innovative sectors that make this country great. For example:

Lobbyists play a prominent role in the Washington economy. In 2010 there were 12,964 registered lobbyists, with most working in or around the nation's capital, according to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington- based research group that tracks political spending. Spending on lobbying efforts reached a record $3.51 billion last year, up from $3.49 billion in 2009.

Apple pie, baseball games, fireworks, and multi-billion dollar lobbying booms: This is America. You gross poor-people cities want the big bucks, do you? Set up a national capital with in your hometown; oh wait you can't, suckers.

Also, one should note that Washington's wealth is not exactly broadly distributed!

[Image via AP]