The Public Dime "Hall of Flame" project

I've been a news junky since I was a kid. One type of article that has always caught my eye is the public corruption exposé -- a public servant gets caught with his hands in the till, a politician gets kickbacks or a job for a relative, or extra payments and benefits are given to members of powerful unions.

The Boston Herald has turned the corruption exposé into an art form, mixing gritty undercover reporting with outraged commentary about crooked pols and civil servants in Boston and eastern Massachusetts. But in my daily browsing of the country's major newspaper websites, I've noticed that many other places also have scandals and exposés. I've been using StumbleUpon to mark some of the more interesting stories, but earlier this year I was inspired by vote-driven media sites like Digg and Hacker News to create my own repository of corruption-related news.

To create the Public Dime Hall of Flame, I used Slinkset, which I found out about through Y Combinator. I also started a Public Dime blog, but I have found that it takes too much time to update compared to the Slinkset-based tool.

The growth of the Public Dime Hall of Flame has surprised me. It seems that practically every day there is a new article about elected officials at all levels of government either being on the take or using their influence to expand their power or subvert democratic processes.

Another common theme: civil servants or workers for mass transit systems conducting disability scams or other questionable activities to line their own nests. A few of the scandals you may already know about, but most will be news to you.

The scale and range of the scams is fascinating, and also somewhat depressing. I used to assume that the United States was a model of ethical government practices, thanks in large part to the many honest politicians and public employees, as well as the many laws and checks and balances that are designed to reduce corruption and influence. However, the longer the Public Dime Hall of Flame gets, the more I realize that our system still has many flaws. In the United States, corruption is pervasive, and takes many forms.

I've opened up the Public Dime Hall of Flame for submissions from members of the public. I am wary of partisan shills and people bent on falsely accusing honest politicians and civil servants, but in the interest of expanding the community and sharing news, I think it's best to keep the gates open. I encourage you to submit your own findings and vote on the others that you think are especially noteworthy by clicking on the "up" arrows next to headlines.