I'm sure this was not the intention of our founding fathers

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by jms62

1. Did our founding fathers intend for this to be such a lucrative career path?

No. Enormous centralized government comes at an enormous cost.

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."

~ James Madison, Federalist No. 45
http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa45.htm

The problem with federalism is that it offers insufficient opportunities for graft.