Honest Graft is the new normal.

Today the New York Times has a whopper of an example of modern “honest graft” that I choose to write about, based on recent conversations with a couple Gen Zer’s.

I was surprised that the career goal of these twenty-somethings was to become a lobbyist. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…some of my friends are lobbyists. But forty-years ago, when I was filled with the ambition and optimism that defines youth, aspiring to be a lobbyist was not on the career list in the 1980s. This is not a baby-boomer rant about “kids these days”, but a recognition that our political system no longer a path for public service, but personal enrichment.

Sure, we’ve always had politicians who indulged the “honest graft” in the style Tammany Hall.  But we’ve also had a long tradition of Goo-Goos (Good Government Types) embodied by the American noblese of Teddy Roosevelt and motivated generations to consider “public service” as a worthy pursuit and not for private gain.

But the ebb and flow between honest graft and the small “r” republican vision of public service has evaporated. The new competing norms pits the honest graft of the establishment against the truly corrupt practices of those like Donald Trump, who raised $250 million post-2020 election to challenge the results, only to transfer the money for other uses. (Something the Green Party first did in 2016, but they only raised $7 million in their honest graft level scam.)

To work in “public service” today, is to operate in a system of honest graft. Worse though are the incentives—money, power and fame—that easily motivate many to advance into the dark-money world of politics that is shredding the fabric on our Republic. (I mean…if someone offered you $1.6 billion, are you going to say no?!)  This culture explains why two striving Gen Zer’s want to become lobbyists. From there, it’s not hard to imagine an amoral career path that leverages public sector work solely for profit. Of course, many would argue we are already there.

At the heart of this civic rot is the influence of money in our political system. Yes, it’s always been part of our system and it forever will be. But the degree to the influence of money exploded in the last thirty years has been chronicled by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Hedrick Smith, who at 89, has been covering American politics since 1960. In his 1988 book “The Power Game” Smith described the “new” Washington DC that was emerging at that time. Campaign operatives and public relation pros were partnering with traditional lobby firms and transforming simple influence peddling into a labyrinth of power-brokers fueled by special interests’ campaign donations and lobbying teams. (Among those profiled were Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, who formed a quintessential 1980’s “power firm” and look what they devolved into?) In 2013, Smith wrote “Who Stole the American Dream?”, a title that sums up the long-term impact of the “power game” he described twenty-five years earlier: the growing income inequality that has gutted the Middle Class. Smith described a system driven by a new political ecosystem fueled by unlimited—and anonymous—money.

Which brings us to our national disconnect between the legal rules and incentives that our politicians operate under and the view of two-thirds of the American public who believe politicians are “corrupt”. (Yet another data point on the dangerous condition of democracy.)  Therefore it’s not surprising that, “getting money out of politics” is overwhelmingly supported by a bipartisan super majority of Americans. The hurdle Ito ending honest graft is the current Supreme Court, who has legalized the giving of gifts and unlimited campaign spending to support politicians by people and corporations under the guise of “free speech”. But these rulings by so-called Originalist SCOTUS justices are corrupting the very political system the REAL Originalists created in 1788.  

So, in the true nature of a Republic, it is up to “the people” to reverse the Supreme Court by passing a constitutional amendment that regulates the funding of political campaigns. Based on polling, it should be an easy sell to “the people”, who on paper at least, like the idea of minimizing money in politics. But of course, it won’t be. What we need is more people making good trouble and giving a few hours of their time to pressure their member of Congress into supporting a constitutional amendment that would limit unlimited campaign and election spending.

While this article is not meant to be a commercial. I can’t argue that people need to act, but not give a call to action.  American Promise is a group focused on passing a constitutional amendment by July 4, 2026 to curb the influence of money in politics. I’m sure they’d love some more help creating good trouble.