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 have dispensed taxpayer-funded jobs, benefits, and contracts as if they were gods from the very beginning of their Party.
This is Part II of a multi-part series that is examining the premise that the Democrat Party is a criminal enterprise that has been robbing taxpayers blind for well over one hundred years and has been perfecting election fraud mechanisms that are intended to establish and perpetuate Democrat political hegemony across the fruited plain.
Part I summarized major Democrat Party fraud from 1900 through 1960. This part focuses on Democrat fraud from 1960 through 2000, and how it has grown in scope, complexity, and enormity virtually without impediment.
Let’s get cracking…
DEMOCRAT PARTY CORRUPTION CIRCA 1960 THROUGH 2000
The fraud and corruption summarized in Part I was relatively small potatoes, as the federal, state, and local government budgets were much smaller during that era, there was far more citizen scrutiny of expenditures at all levels, and there were far fewer welfare and aid programs because there was general consensus that people needed to provide for themselves while falling back on private/religious-based welfare during hard times.
The fraud in that era centered around handing out patronage jobs (civil service) and issuing no-bid (rigged) contracts to constituents willing to buy those contracts through campaign donations. Again, these were relatively small dollar amounts of fraud because SNAP, Medicaid, daycare, and other taxpayer-funded “services” did not exist.
For example, the total amount of fraud and corruption associated with the Pendergast Machine in Missouri (~1925–1939; refer to Part I) was fairly small compared to the fraud now being uncovered in Minnesota. No comprehensive official tally exists, but historical analyses suggest the Machine profited $10 to $20 million (today’s valuation) through corrupt practices, including rigged contracts, protection rackets, and bribes.
The socialist-inspired New Deal and Great Society programs changed all of that, as billions of dollars were expended for a plethora of welfare assistance programs as passed by the Democrat Party, which controlled both houses of the US Congress from 1933–1947 and 1955–1981. The Democrats became the party of welfare and the fraud that accompanies it during this period.
Getting back to the fraud. Below are examples of major Democrat fraud from 1960 to the present organized by decade and focusing on prominent cases.
1960s: Alleged Mob Ties, Election Manipulation, Welfare Fraud in its Infancy
In the 1960s, accusations centered on Democrat ties to organized crime, particularly in Chicago, where critics claimed the party machine collaborated with the Mafia to influence elections, including the 1960 presidential race. This was one of the first major instances in which Democrats were accused of significant election fraud. Things would only get worse!
- Conservative commentators and historians, such as in a 1969 article in National Review, accused the Democratic machine in Chicago (under Mayor Richard J. Daley) of being a “corrupt syndicate” that rigged votes with mob help, claiming it stole the 1960 election for John F. Kennedy by using “ghost voters” and intimidation.
- Journalist Victor Lasky, in his 1963 book “JFK: The Man and the Myth,” echoed claims that Kennedy’s win was due to “criminal elements” in the Democrat Party, including ties to Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana, who allegedly mobilized union and mob votes.
- During the 1968 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon’s team and conservative editorials in The Wall Street Journal labeled the Democrat Party as entangled with “organized crime syndicates” in urban machines, citing FBI reports on mob influence in Democratic strongholds like Chicago and New York.
- Welfare programs were in their infancy during this decade, with the Food Stamp Program becoming permanent in 1964 and Medicaid/Medicare launching in 1965 as part of the Great Society. Fraud was minimal and often involved small-scale overcharges or errors rather than large scandals, as programs ramped up. Early reports of fraud in Aid to Families with Dependent Children and public assistance, such as false claims or overpayments, emerged amid urban uprisings and program expansions, but no major national scandals were documented.
1970s: Public Corruption, Watergate-Era Scrutiny, and Increased Welfare Fraud
Post-Watergate scrutiny extended to Democrats, with accusations of bribery and graft in congressional scandals, portraying the party as corrupt.
- In the wake of the 1979-1980 Abscam sting (which spilled into the 1980s), FBI reports and conservative commentators like Westbrook Pegler accused Democrat congressmen of being part of a “criminal network” accepting bribes from undercover agents posing as Arab sheiks, calling the party “riddled with corruption.”
- Republican Senator Strom Thurmond, in 1978 Senate hearings, described Democrat fundraising practices as a “corrupt enterprise” involving illegal contributions from unions and foreign entities, tying it to broader party scandals.
- Opinion pieces in Human Events (1976) labeled the Democrat Congress a “haven for crooks,” citing convictions like that of Rep. Frank M. Clark (D-PA) for mail fraud and tax evasion, portraying the party as systemically corrupt.
- Welfare fraud increased with program growth, including AFDC expansions and Food Stamps reaching millions. High-profile individual cases and urban trafficking rings dominated, with estimates of up to 55% fraud in some cities. President Reagan popularized the “welfare queen” narrative in 1976. Some examples: Linda Taylor (the original “welfare queen”) defrauded ~$8,000-$40,000 using 80 aliases, 30 addresses, and false claims for Social Security, veterans’ benefits, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and welfare (convicted in 1977). Barbara Williams collected ~$250,000 from 1971-1978 using aliases. Arlene Otis defrauded ~$32,000+ from 1972-1979. In the Food Stamp Program, trafficking rings were discovered in Chicago and other large cities beginning in 1972, with up to a 55% fraud rate in some urban areas per congressional studies.
1980s: ABSCAM Convictions, the Keating Five, and More Welfare Fraud
The ABSCAM scandal dominated the early 1980s, with multiple Democrat lawmakers convicted, leading to accusations of the party as a “racketeering operation.” ABSCAM was a major FBI sting operation conducted from 1978 to 1980 (with revelations and trials extending into the early 1980s) that targeted political corruption and bribery among US public officials. This happened back before the FBI was thoroughly corrupted by the Democrat Party beginning in the Clinton administration.
- FBI Director William Webster, in 1980 testimony, described ABSCAM targets (all Democrats except for one Republican) as part of a “corrupt Democrat machine” that sold influence, with conservative media like The Washington Times calling the party a “criminal syndicate.”
- In the 1989 Keating Five scandal, Republican critics like Sen. John McCain (though involved himself) and editorials in National Review accused the four Democrat senators (Cranston, DeConcini, Riegle, Glenn) of “bribery and corruption,” labeling the Democrat Senate a “pay-to-play enterprise.”
- Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, in 1988 columns, called the Democrat Party “infested with crooks,” citing convictions from Greylord (Chicago judges) and Brilab (labor bribery) that involved many involved Democrats.
- Welfare fraud peaked amid the economic challenges of the early ‘80s, with ~$1 billion annual impact from Food Stamps alone. Federal task forces led to 1,390 indictments from 1981-1983. Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) pilots began reducing abuse late in the decade as a means of trying to eliminate the fraud. Some of the fraud uncovered included these items:
- Food Stamp Program rings in St. Louis and Philadelphia (early ‘80s); prisoners in Tennessee falsely claimed benefits (1985); Ohio recipients sold coupons for cash (1984); Nevada agents traded stamps for guns, drugs, and prostitutes.
- AFDC and Multi-Program fraud included Dorothy Woods defrauded ~$377,000 over 8 years; Esther Johnson ~$240,000 from 1989 into 1990s.
- Medicaid reported increasing evidence of provider overbilling and abuse, though no singular massive case
1990s: Clinton Scandals and Fundraising Controversies; More Welfare Fraud
Democrat fraud ramped up bigly during the Clinton administrations. White House operations were portrayed by critics as a criminal network amid Whitewater, Travelgate, and Chinese fundraising scandals. The grifting was focused on enriching the Clintons personally while gaining illegal campaign donations from foreigners, some of whom had CCP connections. These were the first overt signs of how money and election fraud began to be linked by Democrats.
- House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in 1998 speeches, called the Clinton White House a “criminal enterprise” involving perjury, obstruction, and illegal campaign funds from China, urging impeachment as a “cleansing” of Democrat corruption.
- Conservative editor William F. Buckley Jr., in National Review (1996), accused the Democrat National Committee of being a “money-laundering racket” for foreign donations, tying it to broader party graft. Remember, “foreign donations” means illegal campaign contributions used to influence voters (election fraud).
- During Clinton’s 1999 impeachment, Sen. Bob Dole (R) and opinion pieces in The Wall Street Journal labeled Democrats as protecting a “corrupt regime” amid Lewinsky scandal lies (the blue dress) and fundraisers associated with John Huang’s convictions. Huang and others were the first major exposure of Democrat ties to communist China.
- Technology began to change welfare benefits delivery and fraud discovery. Welfare reform (1996) emphasized anti-fraud measures like EBT, reducing SNAP trafficking from ~4% in 1993 to ~1% by 2006. The fraud focus shifted to overpayments to deceased and improper eligibility. But the fraud continued. For example, a 1991 GAO report found ~3,000 cases of AFDC/TANF benefits were paid to deceased (1986-1987 data); ~$72,000 recovered in sampled cases.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
We’ll stop here and cover the last 25 years of Democrat fraud in the next installment of this series. It gets worse: bigger dollars, more players, more kickbacks, weakened oversight, and a direct tie-in to systemic election fraud that has been perfected over the last several presidential election cycles.
Consider how much the US has spent on welfare programs since 1960. The total amount of wealth transfer payments is approximately $30 trillion in nominal dollars, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This figure focuses on means-tested welfare programs (e.g., Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, housing assistance, EITC, and other income-tested benefits). The funding has ratcheted up over time, as the years 2017-2025 averaged $1.2 trillion per annum in social welfare program spending(!).
Nobody knows how much taxpayer money was stolen through fraudulent actions over the years. Keep in mind that numbers provided above by decade are merely the KNOWN FRAUD; how much was stolen that we don’t know about? Estimates of fraud rates from the 1960s to today by the government and watchdog organizations have typically ranged from 0.5% to 3% of spending, averaging around 1-2% over time. However, this number does not include improper payment rates of 5-10% in recent years, which is a different kind of fraud related to EBT and other computer-based systems.
The bottom line is that fraud is systemic and amounts to somewhere between 6% and 13% per year of total welfare program expenditures. That’s between $72 billion to $156 billion per year. Methinks that number is way too low based on the revelations coming out of Minnesota, which is hardly the largest Blue state!
Stay tuned for Part III in the series.
The end.