Destroying Democracy: How Government Funds Partisan Politics

“To compel man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical.” So wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1786. Yet every year the government Jefferson once headed gives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to organizations that use the money for political advocacy—lobbying, campaigning, grass-roots organizing, and more. With the tenacity of investigative journalists, economists James T. Bennett and Thomas J. DiLorenzo track down where the money comes from, where it goes, and how it is used. Taxpayer dollars go to Tom Hayden’s Campaign for Economic Democracy, Ralph Nader’s Public Interest Research Groups, the National Organization for Women, and the AFL-CIO, as well as to business and conservative groups. This book will be explosive reading for every taxpayer — and for anyone who believes in a fair political process.

James T. Bennett is Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy at George Mason University. Thomas J. DiLorenzo is Assistant Professor of Economics at George Washington University.