What does a multi-millionaire professional football quarterback, a former professional wrestler, a horse farm and a volleyball complex have in common? Well, in Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S., where the capital city is experiencing a water crisi, all of these entities received money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) fund. How much? For Bret Favre, the payment was for $ 1.1 million in 2017 and 2018 for motivational speeches to young people. None of the speeches were ever given. Neither did the other $68.9 million go to needy families. According to the NBC news report, "Favre hasn't been accused of a crime or charged, and he declined an interview. His lawyer, Bud Holmes, said he did nothing wrong and never understood he was paid with money intended to help poor children. Holmes acknowledged that the FBI had questioned Favre in the case, a fact that hasn't previously been reported."
Speaking of community money and elite graft, with regards to Covid relief funds, of the $800 billion given out, "70% of it—or nearly $370 billion—went into the pockets of business owners and shareholders in the richest 20% of the population," according to this Quartz article. For more on elite capture of public resources, check out this recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research detailing the audits done for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) given out the first year of the pandemic.
