THE ESCALATING CORRUPTION IN OUR ELECTIONS

The corruption of Trump and his cronies is omnipresent. The November elections are an opportunity for election and campaign contribution corruption. Trump is using government money in efforts to buy votes, while big campaign contributors get tangible benefits from the Trump administration.

SUMMARY: The corruption of Trump and his cronies is omnipresent. The upcoming November elections have become another opportunity for both new and old types of election and campaign contribution corruption. Trump has made multiple promises to give – and in some cases has delivered – government money directly to voters in both explicit and implicit efforts to buy votes. The linkages between campaign contributions and tangible benefits from the Trump administration are more numerous and blatant than in the past. Just 172 billionaires have spent $1.7 billion on the 2026 elections already.

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The corruption of Trump and his cronies is omnipresent and is happening through many different avenues. The upcoming November elections have become another opportunity for both new and old types of election and campaign contribution corruption.

In a new form of election corruption, Trump has made multiple promises to give – and in some cases has delivered – government money directly to voters in both explicit and implicit efforts to buy votes. He’s doing this far more brazenly and blatantly than any other politician I can think of in at least the last 50 years. Here are the most notable examples: [1]

In October, sent $90 to over 20 million seniors enrolled in Medicare. To pay for this, the Trump administration is diverting money from the $2 billion Medicare Improvement Fund, which is supposed to be used to improve Medicare services. The Trump administration’s rationale for making these payments is that “the best way to improve Medicare is to put healthcare dollars back where they belong – in the hands of our Medicare beneficiaries – and make coverage more affordable.”
In September, sent $500 to roughly 1 million Americans who were supposedly overcharged when they purchased health care under the Affordable Care Act during the Biden administration. (Note: Trump and Congressional Republicans terminated the subsidies for purchasing health care under the Affordable Care Act that the Biden administration had put in place. This led to health insurance costs increasing dramatically for millions of people and millions dropped their health insurance as a result.)
Will give $1,000 to all children born from 1/1/25 – 12/31/28 (i.e., during Trump’s second term) whose families open “Trump Accounts” on their behalf. These tax-free accounts, which others can add to, have also been called “money account for growth and advancement” or MAGA accounts. Wealthy individuals have pledged to help fund these accounts, which appears to be a blatant effort to curry favor with Trump. I received an email from the Social Security Administration on October 21 promoting the “Trump Accounts” and stating that they are available to nearly 70 million American children. (Note: These accounts were created by the July 2025 Big Beautiful Budget Bill that also cut food assistance, health care subsidies, and other spending that supported children and their families.)
In September, Trump announced that every American citizen would receive $5,000 if Republicans retained control of the U.S. House and Senate.

With an eye on the November 2026 mid-term elections, Republicans in Congress and Trump scheduled implementation of many of the spending cuts in the July 2025 Big Beautiful Budget Bill to occur after the election. In addition to the above payoffs, Trump has said on more than one occasion that Americans would receive a tariff dividend of at least $2,000 sometime in 2026. This appears unlikely to happen.

The more traditional corruption of campaign contributions and spending – traditional since the Supreme Court in 2010 allowed unlimited spending by wealthy individuals and corporations – has grown in size and explicitness. Perhaps most notable and explicit has been Elon Musk’s spending of at least $276 million in an effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress. (This is as of early October. Newer reports put it at $445 million.) Musk’s money comes from his ownership in a number of companies including Tesla and SpaceX. The value of his companies and his wealth is based on tens of billions of dollars of government contracts and subsidies. [2] (Note: As you probably remember, Musk spent at least $250 million to help Trump get elected in 2024 and was rewarded with effectively a co-presidency role and leadership of DOGE for several months, as well as with government contracts worth billions.)

Linkages between campaign contributions and tangible benefits from the Trump administration are more numerous and blatant than in the past. The Center for American Progress has tracked the contributions to MAGA Inc., Trump’s main political action committee (PAC), and the benefits donors have received. Overall, MAGA Inc. has raised over $400 million in contributions of over $100,000. Just 108 donors contributed 79% of this total (an average of $3 million each) and each one received a tangible benefit from Trump or the government. Here are some highlights:

65 donors of roughly $97 million benefited from regulatory actions affecting the companies in which they work or invest.
20 donors who along with friends and relatives contributed $88 million received appointments to government agency and advisory board positions; sometimes ones that had influence over the industries in which they work or invest.
7 donors of $79 million had investigations or enforcement actions terminated or reversed.
6 donors of $42 million received government contracts worth at least $11 billion.
2 donors who contributed $4.5 million were connected to presidential pardons.

An analysis of the industries that are contributing – and looking for favorable actions from the government – finds the following:

Crypto companies and executives contributed $88 million
AI and data center builders contributed $37 million
Fossil fuel companies and executives contributed $30 million
Nursing home companies and executives contributed $10 million
Health insurance and benefits companies contributed $6 million

This is just for MAGA Inc. So, both in terms of campaign spending and the corruption of Trump and his administration, this is just a tip of an iceberg. As of early October, the 15 billionaires spending the most on the 2026 elections have contributed roughly $1 billion (about $67 million each on average). The next 157 biggest billionaire spenders have spent a total of approximately $700 million. Over half of MAGA Inc.’s money is coming from these 172 billionaires. [3] These numbers have grown by hundreds of millions of dollars since this analysis was done and will continue to grow until election day.

For lots of good news see Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water blog’s most recent good news Sunday post here.

[1] Metzger, B., Edmonds, L., & Hennessey, G., 10/1/26, “Here’s all the free money Trump’s talked about giving Americans during his second term – and where it all stands,” Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-checks-free-money-status-doge-tariff-rebate-warrior-dividend-2025-12)

[2] Cox Richardson, H., 10/21/26, “”Letters from an American blog,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-21-2026)

[3] Johnson, J., 10/7/26, “172 billionaire families have spent record $1.7 billion on 2026 midterms so far: Analysis,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaire-family-spending-2026)

HOW THE RICH BENEFIT FROM THE RECORD HIGH FEDERAL DEBT

The federal debt was $1 trillion in 1980 and now is $40 trillion due to Republican tax cuts and increased military spending. Wealthy individuals and corporations pay less in taxes and get lots of interest from government bonds. The rest of us are hurt by high inflation and interest rates.

SUMMARY: The federal debt has grown from $1 trillion in 1980 to a record $40 trillion today. President Trump has added $12 trillion to the debt. The causes of the dramatic growth of the debt are quite clear: Republican tax cuts and increased military spending. Wealthy individuals and corporations benefit by paying less in taxes and collecting over $360 billion a year from interest on government bonds. High government debt hurts average Americans by increasing inflation and the interest rates they pay on all types of debt. This all leads to high and growing economic inequality.

(Note: If you find a post too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog!)

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The federal debt has grown from $1 trillion in 1980 to a record $40 trillion today. President Trump has added $12 trillion to the debt in six years as President (despite his promises to reduce it); that’s almost a third of the debt that’s accumulated over the last 45 years. And it’s now growing at a rate of about $2 trillion a year. The debt has grown very fast in recent months, in part because Trump’s tariffs were declared illegal and had to be refunded. [1]

The causes of the dramatic growth of the debt over the last 45 years are quite clear:

Republican tax cuts under Presidents Reagan, G. W. Bush, and Trump that primarily benefit wealthy individuals and corporations,
Increased military spending including the costs of wars, primarily fueled by Republican Presidents, and
At a less dramatic level, one-time emergency spending in response to the Covid pandemic and the economic crash of 2008.

The G.W. Bush and Trump tax cuts gave the richest 20% of Americans 65% of the benefits, while the top 1% got 22% of the benefits. It’s estimated that these tax cuts’ reductions of the federal government’s revenue have added about $11 trillion to the debt since 2001.

Wealthy individuals and corporations benefit from this in two ways. They are:

Paying less in taxes, and
Collecting a big share of the $1 trillion a year in interest the government is paying for the money borrowed to cover the debt.

Wealthy individuals and corporations used to help fund the government by paying more in taxes. However, top income tax rates for wealthy individuals have fallen from 91% in the 1950s to 37% today. Corporate tax rates have fallen from 50% to 21%. Today, the 400 richest Americans pay an average effective tax rate of only 24%, including federal, state, local, and corporate taxes. Many of them have years where they pay no federal income taxes, including Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos. [2]

This loss of government revenue means the government spends more than it takes in. Therefore, it must borrow money to cover the difference. So, wealthy individuals and corporations now fund government spending by loaning it money (by buying government bonds) and then collecting interest on those bonds.

The federal government is now paying $1 trillion a year in interest on the $40 trillion debt that is covered by selling government bonds to investors. While 30% of the bonds are owned by foreign investors and governments, 70% are owned by domestic investors. These investors include individuals, mutual funds, pension funds, and companies such as banks and insurance companies. The richest Americans own a disproportionate share of financial investments, with the richest 1% of Americans owning 36% of all financial assets. Therefore, a reasonable estimate is that at least 36% of the $1 trillion the government pays in interest, $360 billion a year, is paid to the richest Americans. [3]

The $1 trillion in annual interest payments are $1 trillion that the government doesn’t have to spend on other programs and services. This amount is roughly equal to what is spent on Medicare in a year or what is in the annual Defense Department budget.

Government borrowing of large amounts of money increases interest rates. The rapid current borrowing has pushed the interest rate the government has to pay to get investors to buy its mainstay 30-year Treasury bonds to 5.5%, the highest level in 25 years. As a result, interest rates Americans pay on mortgages, credit card debt, car loans and leases, and student debt are all increasing. The cost of borrowing money for businesses is also increasing. This all increases the rate of inflation. [4]

So, while wealthy individuals and corporations are pocketing billions of dollars due to lower tax rates, they are also collecting billions in interest on their investments in government bonds. Meanwhile, average Americans are paying more on any kind of debt they have, are facing inflation in the prices of the goods and services they need, and are getting less support from the federal government because of reduced spending due to less revenue and more that has to be spent on paying interest on the debt. All of this leads to very high and growing economic inequality in the U.S. (See this previous post for more details.)

For lots of good news see Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water blog’s most recent good news Sunday post here.

[1] Johnson, J., 8/20/26, “Economists blame $40 trillion debt milestone on two things: GOP ineptitude and tax cuts for the rich,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/economists-trump-40-trillion-debt)

[2] Reich, R., 8/20/26, “Who’s raking it in as the national debt explodes?” Robert Reich blog post (https://robertreich.substack.com/p/who-gets-paid-as-our-national-debt)

[3] Reich, R., 8/20/26, see above

[4] Kuttner, R., 8/19/26. “How the cost of money spikes inflation,” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/2026/08/19/how-cost-of-money-spikes-inflation/)

BIG CORPORATIONS AVOID TAXES WHILE EMPLOYEES STRUGGLE

SUMMARY: Eighty-eight large corporations with over $105 billion in profits paid no federal income tax in 2025. Moreover, they got almost $5 billion in tax rebates! Many large and profitable companies also pay their employees so little that they rely on government-subsidized Medicaid for health insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food. The hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes dodged each year, as well as the cost of government benefits for employees, contribute significantly to the annual federal budget deficit.

(Note: If you find a post too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog!)

(Note: Please follow me and see my blog posts on Bluesky at: @jalippitt.bsky.social. Thanks!)

At least 88 large, profitable corporations paid no federal income tax in 2025. Corporate tax dodging has increased in recent years in large part because of the two tax cut laws enacted by Trump and congressional Republicans: the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025 and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in late 2017.

These 88 corporations had over $105 billion in profits, paid no income tax, and got almost $5 billion in tax rebates! Given the federal corporate income tax rate of 21%, they dodged $27 billion in taxes. Based on the 35% income tax rate in place before the two tax cut laws, these corporations had their taxes cut by $41 billion in 2025 alone. [1]

Note that this analysis includes only corporations that have filed their 2025 tax returns and are one of the 500 largest U.S. corporations. It does not include thousands of other corporations or any privately owned companies.

Here are some of the most profitable and well-known corporations that paid no 2025 federal income tax and their 2025 profits:

Walt Disney $8.3 billion in profits
Cheniere Energy $7.0 billion in profits
CVS Health $6.6 billion in profits
Tesla $5.7 billion in profits
Citigroup $4.5 billion in profits
United Airlines $4.3 billion in profits
Amer. Elec. Power $3.7 billion in profits
PG&E $2.5 billion in profits
3M $1.8 billion in profits
Coinbase (crypto) $1.6 billion in profits
Palantir Tech. $1.6 billion in profits
PayPal Holdings $1.4 billion in profits
Biogen $1.2 billion in profits
Yum! Brands $1.0 billion in profits (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.)

State corporate income taxes are typically based on federal income tax laws. As a result, these 88 corporations that paid no federal income tax also paid very little state income tax; their effective state tax rate was only 1.4%.

One of the main ways corporations reduce their federal income taxes is through special tax breaks written into federal laws. These include:

Accelerated depreciation, which allows corporations to reduce taxes by the full amount of infrastructure expenditures in one year even if the infrastructure will last for many years. This tax break has been used to spur recovery from recessions in the past but is now a permanent part of tax law due to the two tax cut laws identified above.
Research and development tax credits.
Tax deductions for stock options given to employees.

In 2025, corporations have so far reported taking $204 billion in federal income tax breaks. This represents a huge giveaway of 18% of total corporate income taxes paid to the federal government, which were about $1,130 billion in 2025 and were paid by hundreds of thousands of corporations. [2]

Six corporations claimed $83 billion of these tax breaks (41%). These are record-breaking amounts.

Microsoft $19 billion
Alphabet (Google’s parent) $18 billion
Amazon $17 billion
Meta (Facebook, Instagram) $14 billion
JPMorgan Chase $ 8 billion
Nvidia (chip maker) $ 7 billion

These corporations do not need tax breaks because they are struggling; they collectively have roughly $500 billion in cash on hand. Previously, the largest one-year tax break claim had been $5 billion by JPMorgan Chase in 2024.

Meanwhile, many large and profitable companies pay employees so little that they must rely on government assistance to survive. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently analyzed data from eleven states on Americans who use government-subsidized Medicaid for health insurance (about 28 million adults) and/or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food (about 20 million adults). Roughly half of them worked at least part-time in 2024 and of these, two-thirds worked full-time. Most of them worked for private employers in transportation, food, or retail sales jobs. Of the approximately 150 employers across the eleven states studied that had employees enrolled in Medicaid or SNAP, seventeen were among the 50 largest corporations in the country by number of employees. The following companies were among the 25 employers with the greatest number of employees using Medicaid and/or SNAP in multiple states: Walmart, Amazon, McDonald’s, FedEx, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walgreens, and CVS. [3]

The hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes dodged each year, as well as the cost of government benefits for employees, mean that large, profitable corporations contribute significantly to the annual federal budget deficit and to the growing cumulative federal debt that just hit $40 trillion. The wealth of these corporations and their executives and shareholders gives them substantial political and economic power, which they have been wielding in their self-interest and to the detriment of all of the rest of us.

For lots of good news see Jess Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water blog’s most recent good news Sunday post here.

[1] Gardner, M., & Marasini, S., 4/14/26, “At least 88 profitable U.S. corporations paid zero federal income tax in 2025,” ITEP (https://itep.org/88-profitable-corporations-paid-zero-income-tax-in-2025/)

[2] Buttikofer, S., & Gardner, M., 8/14/26, “Six companies reaped $83 billion in federal tax breaks in 2025,” ITEP (https://itep.org/six-companies-83-billion-in-federal-tax-breaks/)

[3] U.S. Government Accountability Office, 6/22/26, “Federal social safety net programs: Millions of workers, including many employed by large employers, continue to rely on Medicaid and SNAP,” (https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108703)