The Democrat Party is a Criminal Enterprise, Part I; Its goal is one-party rule as a precursor to robbing US taxpayers in perpetuity

The Democrat Party may not have invented political corruption, but they have perfected and exported it throughout Blue states over the last 125+ years. They are the party of government and use patronage as a hammer to dispense taxpayer-funded jobs, benefits, and contracts to those who toe the Democrat line. At least that’s how it started before the 16^th Amendment was passed that enabled the federal government to grow to its present gargantuan size. Somewhere along the way, the Democrats decided that their welfare program push could be used as a smokescreen for outright theft of taxpayer dollars.

A rare glimpse of the depth and breadth of that corruption, graft, and grifting is playing out now in Minnesota. The amount of taxpayer money stolen with the assistance of the Democrat Farm Labor Party that runs the state is enormous – as much as $9 billion by some estimates. Note: All five of the statewide offices in Minnesota are held by DFL apparatchiks: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and auditor. That is a recipe for corruption.

This is the first of a multi-part series that examines the premise of the title of this article. In my opinion, the evidence is everywhere and cannot be disputed. The big question is whether we have the political willpower in America to hold the thieves accountable – especially those who infest the Democrat Party (and the lackey RINOs who enable them, too).

Let’s take a look.

DEMOCRAT PARTY CORRUPTION CIRCA 1900 THROUGH 1960

The early and mid-20th century (roughly 1900–1960) saw frequent accusations of corruption leveled against Democrat Party political machines in major US cities and states. These machines, which dominated local politics, were often criticized by reformers, journalists, Republicans, and even some Democrats as corrupt entities intertwined with organized crime, voter fraud, bribery, and graft. Below are key examples that focus on prominent machines like Tammany Hall in New York City, the Pendergast machine in Kansas City, the Kelly-Nash machine in Chicago, and Huey Long’s organization in Louisiana.

These accusations typically came from opinion editors, political opponents, clergy, and investigative reports, portraying the Democrat Party’s local operations as akin to criminal enterprises. Note that while these machines were Democrat-led, it is true that not all Democrats were involved or condoned the corruption (at least in the early years).

Tammany Hall (New York City Democrat Machine, 1900s–1930s). Tammany Hall, the Democrat Party’s political organization in New York City, was a frequent target of corruption allegations in the early 20th century, building on its notorious 19th-century reputation under Boss Tweed. Critics accused it of bribery, election fraud, and controlling city contracts, often likening it to a criminal syndicate.

• In 1909, an article titled “Tammanyizing of a Civilization” in The Atlantic described Tammany’s history as a “long and tangled record of bribery and corruption,” noting that its methods involved systematic graft from aldermen and executives emblematic of urban political vice.
• Historian Gustavus Myers, in his 1917 book History of Tammany Hall (revised editions circulated into the 1930s), compiled extensive evidence of Tammany’s sins, including bribery of immigrants into voting gangs and the Common Council being known as “The Forty Thieves” for embezzlement and graft, portraying it as a corrupt machine that robbed the city of millions.
• Reverend Charles Parkhurst, a reformist clergyman and opinion leader, in his 1892 sermon (widely reprinted and referenced into the early 1900s) denounced the Tammany-backed administration of Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck as “a lying, perjured, rum-soaked, and libidinous lot” of “polluted harpies,” accusing them of fostering corruption and vice. Parkhurst’s critiques continued to influence early 20th-century reform movements against Tammany.
• In the 1930s, during investigations into Mayor Jimmy Walker (a Tammany Democrat), critics like journalist Hodding Carter and others echoed earlier charges, with Tammany often called a “machine for forgetting” ethical governance, tied to organized crime and graft.

Pendergast Machine (Kansas City Democrat Machine, 1920s–1930s). The Democrat machine under Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri, was accused of voter fraud, ties to organized crime (including gambling and prostitution), and embezzlement during the Prohibition era and Great Depression. Pendergast’s control peaked in the 1930s, leading to federal investigations.

• Syndicated journalist Westbrook Pegler, in a 1938 column, described Pendergast’s rule as “good, rotten government” that ran a “good, rotten city” where citizens tolerated “wide open vice and gambling,” portraying the Democrat machine as a corrupt enterprise profiting from illicit activities.
• US Attorney Maurice Milligan, in his 1948 memoir Missouri Waltz, expressed bafflement at how Kansas City’s cultural achievements coexisted “side by side with a corrupt machine run by a boss like Pendergast,” accusing the Democrat organization of systemic graft, election fraud (including “ghost votes”), and alliances with crime syndicates.
• The FBI, in a 1930s investigation summary (later publicized), noted Pendergast’s “corrupt activities—including voter fraud and bribery,” which made Kansas City an “open city” for gangsters, prostitution, and drugs, effectively labeling the machine a criminal operation.
• Former Congressman Joe Shannon, a political rival, in 1936 called the machine’s election practices “so corrupt, it was a disgrace to American civilization and the Democrat Party,” highlighting fraud and violence at polls.

Kelly-Nash Machine (Chicago Democrat Machine, 1930s–1950s). Chicago’s Democrat machine under mayors like Anton Cermak (1931–1933) and later Edward Kelly and Pat Nash (1930s–1940s) was accused of corruption, ties to organized crime (e.g., Al Capone’s successors), and controlling patronage jobs. This built on the city’s broader reputation for political vice in the early 20th century.

• Historical overviews, such as in Wikipedia’s entry on Chicago’s political history (drawing from mid-20th-century sources), note that “organized crime and political corruption were persistent concerns” under Democrat dominance, with the machine accused of election tampering and graft throughout the 20th century.
• In the 1930s, reformers and journalists like those in the Chicago Tribune (a Republican-leaning paper) frequently accused the Kelly-Nash machine of being a “criminal enterprise” intertwined with vice, with one 1930s report likening it to a “machine for corruption” that protected speakeasies and embezzled public funds.
• Sociologist Harvey Zorbaugh, in his 1929 book The Gold Coast and the Slum, described Chicago’s core as a “vortex” of vice under machine control, with mid-20th-century extensions portraying the Democrat organization as enabling organized crime through corrupt alliances.

Huey Long’s Organization (Louisiana Democrat Machine, 1920s–1930s). Huey Long, a Democrat governor (1928–1932) and senator (1932–1935), built a populist machine accused of authoritarianism, bribery, and corruption. Opponents portrayed it as a dictatorial criminal network.

• During Long’s 1929 impeachment, the Louisiana House charged him with “high crimes and misdemeanors in office, incompetency, corruption, favoritism, oppression in office,” accusing his machine of bribery and suppressing opposition.
• Editor Hodding Carter, in the 1930s Daily Courier, called Long a “demagogue” whose machine fostered corruption, warning that his “Share Our Wealth” program masked graft and vote-buying.
• Senator Edwin Broussard, in a 1932 letter to a Senate committee, accused Long’s machine of corruption, including forcing state employees to contribute to campaigns and promising prisoner releases for votes, portraying it as fraudulent and criminal.
• After Long’s 1935 assassination, the “Louisiana Scandals” under successor Richard Leche (a Long ally) involved kickbacks and mail fraud, with critics like journalists accusing the Democratic machine of systemic theft.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

These examples are an introduction to the Democrat criminal enterprise and reflect a pattern where Democratic machines were criticized as criminal-like due to their control over patronage, elections, and vice. The successfully grifting methodologies that were perfected over time were exported to other Democrat-controlled cities with varying degrees of success (from the Democrat point of view), including Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Los Angeles, and of course Minneapolis.

As technology advanced and the federal government grew almost uncontrollably through socialist New Deal and Great Society programs, new ways to rip off the taxpayer were ingeniously tested and perfected. The grift also became part of a vast election fraud scheme that Democrats perfected to steal elections with the goal of perpetuating the theft in perpetuity through one-party political control of the federal, state, and local governments. We’ll look at some of this in the next part of the series.

The end.

This article originally appeared in Stu Cvrk’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission

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