CATO Has A Plan For Reducing Federal Corruption

Reducing Federal Corruption

CATO Institute has a brief policy bulletin that addresses corruption in Washington and throughout the federal government. It's only two pages long and worth the time to read it.

Federal corruption is in the news with the Jack Abramoff affair, the conviction of a Republican congressman for bribery, and out-of-control special interest spending in the budget. Corruption refers to dishonest and unethical actions by officials to obtain private rewards at the public’s expense.

There has been corruption in American government since the beginning, despite the efforts of the nation’s Founders to curb it with devices such as the separation of
powers.1 This bulletin highlights some recent scandals and suggests ways to reduce corruption.

Corruption and Big Government

Corruption occurs when legislators and bureaucrats use their discretionary power over budgets, regulations, procurement, and taxation to reward themselves and
private interests, while subverting the general welfare. Officials are motivated by bribes, campaign contributions, favorable investment opportunities, promises of jobs for themselves and family members, and other payoffs.

The federal government is vulnerable to corruption because each year it procures $500 billion in goods and services, hands out $450 billion in 770 state aid programs,
issues 75,000 pages of regulations, oversees 66,498 pages of tax rules, and “earmarks” spending for about 15,000 special interest projects. Manipulating these levers of big government is the goal of thousands of pressure groups, aided by Washington’s 35,000 registered lobbyists. Here is a brief review of some recent scandals.