In my book The New New Left I describe the big government coalition as consisting primarily of public sector unions and government funded social advocacy groups, which have a common interest in bigger government. In places like New York these nonprofit groups have gathered enormous political power, becoming the new neighborhood political clubhouses and existing as a path to elected office for people who work for them. I discuss this issue in my Saturday Wall St. Journal column about the recent spate of political scandals in New York, whose common theme is these taxpayer funded nonprofits.
It is astounding that in the Empire State legislators and council members
can direct funds through earmarks into nonprofits controlled by their
relatives and legislative staffers. No wonder so many of them have
figured in corruption scandals over the years. Above is a list of the 10
states with the most public officials convicted of corruption going
back to 1976, courtesy of the University of Illinois Institute for
Government and Public Affairs.
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