New Yorkers and the nation feel they are paying the price for federal corruption.
A new poll from Navigator Research found 81% of Americans believe government corruption raises prices, with many pointing to elected officials who allow waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money, and who protect large corporations price gouging consumers.
Tina Tang, director of polling and analytics for Navigator Research, said the perception of corruption among elected officials is a bipartisan problem.
“About 70% of Americans felt that Washington had a major corruption problem,” Tang reported. “This wasn’t confined necessarily to Democrats or to Republicans. They really did see this as a Washington problem, a bipartisan problem, as opposed to just one party or just Trump.”
The poll found almost half of people across partisan boundaries consider President Donald Trump and his family more corrupt than billionaires and CEOs, or congressional Republicans.
The data show desired solutions include banning unfair price hikes during emergencies or shortages, capping hidden fees and banning companies from using personal data to charge consumers different costs for the same items.
A Groundwork Collaborative report noted the administration’s pay-to-play tactics have raised costs, including cuts to social programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, appeasing big companies by deregulating their respective industries and allowing corporate leaders to have roles in the administration to control policy.
Tang pointed out people are not thinking of corruption in a singular sense.
“They really are thinking about corruption now, in both government and corporate terms,” Tang observed. “They’re not just thinking of corruption as elected officials, they’re not just thinking about corruption as corporations price gouging. They’re really kind of connecting both together.”
More than half of those surveyed feel politicians, billionaire CEOs and wealthy donors should not be above the law.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.