When I first moved from operating choo-choo's to planning and building them, there was certainly corruption, but more at the "margins". And, of course, there was a lot of costly bloat from contingencies, bidding practices, and gold plated specifications and there still is.

Today, the level of outright corruption (contract steering, bid rigging, the offering of "perks" (freebies, hookers, "free" "expensed" meals charged back to the contract, junkets, etc.), outright bribes, and massive "legal" bribes through our system of using campaign contributions, in-kind, direct, and/or "laundered" through front groups or "think tanks" to "buy" political power.

I watched one agency steer so many contracts to one favored vendor, that other firms stopped bidding on work for them altogether. Finally, in one embarrassing episode, the agency received only one bid, from that "wired" firm, and had to explain to incredulous board members, that no other firms were interested in a 4 million plus "planning" job.

I have seen folks catch illegal practices like firms submitting falsified time sheets for the same employee on the same day, with overtime, that added up to more than a 24 hour day. I've also watched those who were "caught" doing these things actually warned by an agency CEO. And. I've watched the staff who caught this blatant fraud who were suddenly the ones in "trouble" with management.

I have been called and asked to illegally change my ratings on a contract selection process, because my scores had rated one of the firms "too high" and folks might question the results of the selection of the "preferred" firm.

I watched a local politician who was a consultant, who had defrauded a Federal program, who had to plead guilty to two felony counts, and was still not "debarred" from Federal contracts, and promptly upon that conviction, had Federally funded contracts given to him within weeks of the convictions.

The level of corruption is more blatant, criminal, and costly to taxpayers than it was 30 years ago. It is completely bipartisan, it is a character driven problem with those who feel that they are entitled to such "perks of power", and all too often involves the knowing "collusion" of agency senior management, who are indebted to their political "benefactors".

Then we get into the professional "corruption" of these planning studies, where results are "predetermined" without any need for any real "analysis", because the results have already been decided. You just hire the "right" often wired "house whore" contractor who promises the answer you wanted anyhow.....

Yep, we could do better, and we have many who do stand up and do the right thing. I watched an agency CFO and Counsel leave an agency with this kind of problem, rather than put their reputations and careers in danger from "enabling" the CEO and covering up these abuses.

In our system, we get to choose our political leaders, and unlimited campaign donations gets to buy them.....so we truly get the "gubmint" we deserve.....? You say it's awful (it is...) and that you have begun to really notice how out of control this has become. So what will you do about it?