re: Which State has the strongest "Good Ol' Boys" system?

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In O&G in West TX blatant fraud by people is pretty bad. Especially when you get to smaller operators and not your majors. Guys setting up service companies in a family member's name then awarding them work and fixing the rates seemed like a pretty common thing, as an example. It happens everywhere in the industry but it seemed most acceptable there probably because the industry is so engrained in the area

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ahh. see i left there in early 2000's so the O&G industry is nowhere near what it is now, so i'm a bit removed from that. but i can see it.

Hawaii

LOUISIANA and it's not even close. When Eddie dibartolo says we are the worst, it has to be true. He said people don't want envelopes they want brinks trucks.

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I don't think it is nearly as bad when you get into the cities as far as politics and business go but maybe I'm wrong.

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It becomes more pay-to-play in Dallas and other big cities.

The State of Tangipahoa Parish.....its sister state, The Parish of Livingston is a close second

Mississippi
Pennsylvania
Illinois
Maryland
Louisiana
New York

Baptists and Bootleggers

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For much of the 20th century, Baptists and other evangelical Christians were prominent in political activism for Sunday closing laws restricting the sale of alcohol. Bootleggers sold alcohol illegally, and got more business if legal sales were restricted.[1] "Such a coalition makes it easier for politicians to favor both groups. ... [T]he Baptists lower the costs of favor-seeking for the bootleggers, because politicians can pose as being motivated purely by the public interest even while they promote the interests of well-funded businesses. ... [Baptists] take the moral high ground, while the bootleggers persuade the politicians quietly, behind closed doors."[3]

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Drugs, prostitution, are some of the normal black market economics this often plays out in but it can be applied to other markets. Even today there are still dry and partially dry counties. Often outside these areas will be a strip of alcohol stores owned by the good ole boy network.

But these type of scams apply on both the micro and macro level. Just think if you could use your political propaganda to make up an excuse as to why certain types of production cant be done. Create agencies that go after and hammer these industries. Move your brands overseas to non capitalist friendly nations and use your political connection in these countries to block entrance of competition, go after your rivals, look the other way on environmental and worker safety integrity, and pay peanut wages. There is multi-millions in extra profit to be had. Now imagine you could take that cheaper product and ship it over to the capitalist former country and sell it with no tariffs involve further putting whatever competition is scrapping by out of business. Its almost amazing no one has tried this, i guess our country is too smart to be fooled.

Oklahoma was pretty corrupt in the 80's. I haven't done business out there since then to know if it changed.

Don't you hate when you're on here late at night and nobody else is posting?