Jon Miltimore explains where the expression “honest graft” came from and gives examples of what the DOGE investigations have turned up so far:
In 1905, George Washington Plunkitt made arguably the most famous defense of political graft in American history.
“Everybody is talkin’ these days about Tammany men growin’ rich on graft,” the New York state senator and Tammany Hall member wrote, “but nobody thinks of drawin’ the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft”.
Plunkitt was responding to The Shame of the Cities, a book by journalist Lincoln Steffens that exposed sweeping political corruption in U.S. cities.
The ward boss’s shameless defense of “honest graft”, which is still assigned to undergraduates a century after Plunkitt’s death, comes to mind when looking at the fraud, waste, and abuse Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and others are uncovering.
To take but one example, consider the billions of dollars in taxpayer funds the Environmental Protection Agency awarded last year to Power Forward Communities. If you’ve never heard of the nonprofit group, you’re forgiven. Almost nobody has — because it didn’t exist until late 2023.
Power Forward Communities had no footprint, online or otherwise, until October 2023, when it was announced as part of the Rewiring America program, an organization linked to former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, which says its mission is “all about Rewiring America’s values, people, and culture.”
Less than a year after its creation, Power Forward Communities was awarded $2 billion via the EPA’s National Clean Investment Fund — even though it reported just $100 in revenue during its first three months of operation.
The payment, which is slated to continue through June 2031, caught the attention of Lee Zeldin, the new EPA administrator.
“It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023 was chosen to receive $2 billion,” Zeldin said.
Indeed. It’s graft on a scale the Tammany Hall charlatans couldn’t have imagined.
Historical sources say 19th-century politician Boss Tweed and his ring of cronies took in at least $50 million in corrupt money in backroom deals, kickbacks, and skimming before Tweed was convicted of larceny and forgery in 1873 and fled to Cuba, and later Spain. In 2025 dollars, that’s about $1.3 billion — considerably less than the single payoff former President Joe Biden’s EPA awarded Power Forward Communities.
On Joe Rogan this week, Musk got real cagey, real quick once the graft started getting enumerated. Musk emphasized that “it’s mostly waste and inefficiency” that he saw. Which I don’t think Rogan believed, but Rogan kinda played along.
Comment by Disappointed in Humanity — March 3, 2025 @ 06:34
Given that they’re still only hip-deep in the viscerals of a few agencies, I guess it makes sense for Musk to push the “honest graft” explanation for the time being … but I’d be more than astonished if they don’t find some world-class examples of fraud and corruption.
Comment by Nicholas — March 3, 2025 @ 10:20
What got my attention was his demeanor change: “Fraud?! Impossible!!” Musk seemed to fight the possibility of any intentional fraud. He reminded me of a four-year-old trying to lie and deflect: it doesn’t work, but everyone plays along.
Comment by Disappointed in Humanity — March 3, 2025 @ 23:02
My tolerance for politicians’ and politician-adjacent folks’ speeches is microscopic, so I’ll bow to your knowledge on this … I haven’t watched and almost certainly won’t. Even when I agree with what’s being said, I’m not eager to listen.
Comment by Nicholas — March 4, 2025 @ 10:05