Monday, December 15, 2008

Why and How of Corruption, Chapter One

Cynical, yes.

The warning about Big Gummint, yes.

As economist Thomas Sowell pointed out over the years, "When legislatures control buying and selling, the first thing to be bought and sold are legislators."

Spectacularly demonstrated in Illinois, yes.

Present in a State just north of Illinois, yes.

Elections can't come fast enough, yes.

Sample:

Royko explained that in the late 1940s, when Daley was elected to the Illinois legislature, it was common practice for legislators to introduce what were called "getter" bills that would regulate a particular industry. The legislators introducing these bills didn't really think the regulation was necessary; they would just wait until the industry in question would cough up enough "campaign contributions," and then the author of the bill would arrange for the bill to be killed in committee.

Cited by Clay Cramer, yes.

No comments: