| This Knowledge and Corruption Page was created in 2015. I am transferring this page to a blog post and updating it in 2019. Corruption happens when unchecked power is given to one person or just a few people. |  |
 | A building inspector could be given a bribe to look the other way only because that inspector is the only person with the power to hold up a job. Politicians routinely put up bills to get public interest PAC’s’ campaign money to pull the bill. |
| Contractors collude with the bureaucrats to overbill and give kickbacks only because those bureaucrats have the government money to spend. They are out in the open. Legal ways to be corrupt, such as congressman trading on a stock with inside information or trading on a stock when their power as a congressman has a profound influence on that stock price. |  |
 | The cure is spreading the power wide. Competition is where corruption struggles to exist. This is why it is far better for control to be in the free market and if necessary, in the lower levels of government. The city is better than the state and state better than federal; however, the free market is optimal. Competition has proven to reduce corruption because power is more spread out and people can freely decide with who they do their business. |
| Knowledge The President is responsible for roughly 23% of spending in the USA. While he has assistance from federal workers, the knowledge, time, and dedication he and his administration have are not close to the 316 million peoples' brains, intelligence, time, experience, or level of caring. |  |
 | People looking after their own lives and businesses are much more dedicated than a distant bureaucrat will ever be. |
| ‘Pay for play’ is done often and becoming so brazen. The public and the media become numb to this pay for play attitude. This story about bank PAC's is just one of the hundreds of stories about the very enormous power placed in such a few hands and how much money is thrown around trying to elect and influence those few. |  |
 | Money in Politics Often money in politics can look like corruption. Corruption at this point can all be pure motivation. One could honestly believe in the candidate and issues, and the donations could look legitimate; however, someone could offer a substantial contribution if the candidate changes their position on an issue. |
| If the candidate takes the money and changes position, was it because they were legitimately convinced of the other policy position or were they doing it for the money? One must also look at where the money originated. |  |
 | If the money came from many in small amounts, it represents many people’s views and more legitimate for a politician to consider; however, if the money comes from one large donor, it looks as if a millionaire is buying the politician. |
| If the Millionaire donates big and it changes policy that enables a large employer to keep a business open, does it become more legitimate? Lastly, most of the answers to the above question will depend on if the politician changes to or stays with the reader’s position on the issues. |  |
 | All this being said, the more government does, the more people will try to influence the candidates and politicians. If you take away 72% of what government does, the money will not flow to the candidates because their views on health care, roads, education, welfare, Social Security, and regulations would be dispersed in the private sector? Corruption will go down because the power will not be in the hands of the few, rather, spread wide. |
| All of Haley2024 is spreading the power as wide as possible and giving the people the ability to vote with their feet and their dollars. |  |
 | Dominion Power donates Millions of dollars to political campaigns. While this can be problematic for any company, it is very questionable for a utility that is heavily regulated by the politicians they are donating to. State lawmakers very flush campaign funds ward off challengers to their elected office, giving great concern whether lawmakers regulatory power over Dominion results in these donations. |
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