Whenever you give more control to outsiders (whether its government control over private industry or guard control over prisoners) there is greater opportunity

Whenever you give more control to outsiders (whether its government control over private industry or guard control over prisoners) there is greater opportunity for corruption. The reason you're seeing more outright corruption is because there's more at stake now. Government now has a finger in every business pie we make. In many industries you can't sneeze without getting approval first. When, with the addition of a provision, Congress can make or break a quarter, or hell, even an industry, there's massive incentive to cheat. And, to be fair, they did string up Duke Cunningham. They've got to make an example out of somebody every decade or so. Lastly, we're not really an oligarchy: we're turning into a Euro-style corporate state, which have seen this kind of corruption and entrenched powers for decades now.