If you want to understand what led to the financial catastrophe we are now experiencing there is no better place to start then David Cay Johnston's book, Free Lunch. Amazingly, it was written last year. A first class job of research by a former NY Times reporter who has a gift of narrative along with the facts to back it up. It is the perfect book to give to those good people we all know who doubt that the system is really corrupt.

Everyone should read this book.Find who is getting a free lunch and most are only getting table scraps!

This book is probably best read in small portions, as the average person will become incensed at the greed that takes from the less and gives to the more. Fortunately, each chapter covers a specific rip off of the taxpayer, and is not too long. It might raise the blood pressure of the average person to read too many chapters at one time.

Yes, the wealthy and connected have rigged the system to flow the riches to themselves.

If there is one theme to the book, it is the Adam Smith's advice that government should not favor one endeavor over another is deaf to the people that continually use Adam Smith as the reason for government getting out of the way. It is not free enterprise when government takes one side, which is what the wealthy and well connected have the government do.

A good companion is Hostile Takeover by David Sirota (available on Amazon Kindle).Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back

His prior book, Perfectly Legal, is a good primer, although a bit dated as to how the wealthy avoid taxes. In Free Lunch, it is how the wealthy get subsidies. Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else

An excellent, well-documented and readable investigation and analysis of how the whole system of American government, at Federal, State and Local levels, has been used for the past 30 years or so to tax the poor and the middle class in order to enrich the already wealthy. If you think this sounds like the system in France in 1788, you are absolutely right. If you are not angry already, you need to read this book. If you are angry already, you still need to read this book in order to confirm all your worst suspicions. There is something rotten in the States of America, and if the infection of our body politic is not dealt with soon, it will turn to gangrene and kill democracy completely.

A very informative and straight-ahead book revealing, anecdote by real-life anecdote, how, during the Bush/Clinton/Bush administrations, our public commons -- in other words, our tax dollars -- increasingly have been routinely commandeered by a tiny and superrich elite for their own exhorbitant profit. In the form of public subsidies for private developers and retailers, such as Cabelas and Wal-Mart, and through privatization of our utility companies starting with Enron's massive rip-off of our public commons, Johnston shows how the wolves (greedy privateers) have not only gained entrance into the henhouse of our national treasury but, through intensive lobbying efforts, are exercising too much control over our elected officials today, basically funding the rewriting of our national laws to ensure their own dominant position and ongoing aggregation of riches.

The book makes sense of a lot of things that were not adding up to me when looking around our current landscape -- like why my electric bill has skyrocketed in the last couple of years (thank you, Kenny Lay), or what kind of business "sense" was behind that monstrous box store of Cabelas on Rte. 78 in Hamburg, PA. Or even why oil and gas prices are going through the roof right now. It's not supply and demand at all, it's sleight of hand and basic greed and power-grabbing. Johnston shows how the scales of supply and demand no longer balance the markets, as the PR mavens would like us to believe. When private companies are subsidized with public funds, Adam Smith-type free market competition proves but a chimera, a smokescreen behind which privateers hide, avidly sucking our economy dry and bankrupting our society. Read the book.

Very well written book. It's very sad, especially since you read it and don't have any power to do anything about it, but it's very well written.

This is a very informative and enlightening look at how the weathly go to great lengths to manipulate a number of various systems to essentially steal money from the American public. Prior to reading the book I had a general ideal that alot of these things were going on but to see it all in one place makes me have a very 'upset stomach'. Our founder fathers would be ashamed at what the rich have done to the legal, tax, political systems within in this great country. It use to be that great innovation, new technlogy, solid investment strategy or great marketing were the keys to building wealth,.. wow have things deteriorated. I am not looking forward to the next 10 years. Couple of areas that the author omits are the subsidies that are provided to the oil companies, as well as the financial bailout of the airlines. Overall a great book and written with a good flow. He could have spent a little more time on some potential remedies.

Seven years into the governmental nightmare known as the Bush II Admininstration, and scant months before the near collapse of the American economy under the weight of a devalued dollar, massive trade imbalances, failed hedge funds, near-failed banks and investment firms, bursting real estate bubble, $4.00+ per gallon gasoline, and the prospect of dual bankruptcies by Ford and General Motors, David Cay Johnston's FREE LUNCH emerged in bookstores. Mr. Johnston's book was as much a warning against these trends as it was a jeremiad, a lengthy register of complaints about a governmental system that, at virtually every level, had been overtaken by lawyers and lobbyists in the name of their corporate clients. In Mr. Johnston's view, the American enterprise system had increasingly become rigged for the aggrandizement of the wealthy few at the expense of the vast many. History will likely show that, while this perversion of government "for the people" was not causative with respect to the Bush II late-term recession, they will be seen as part and parcel of the same neoconservative, trickle-down agenda.

The strength of FREE LUNCH emerges in its lengthy anecdotes. Rather than lecture and philosophize, Mr. Johnston elects to illustrate with concrete examples that leave one outraged, cursing under one's breath at both the sheer audacity and the public's lack of awareness and powerlessness. His case histories begin with the "reward without risk" behavior of CSX, the railroad company whose negligence in maintaining tracks and switches allowed them to increase earnings while offloading the liability for accidents and deaths onto the American taxpayer via Amtrak. Next comes the seizure of the Mullaly and Macombs Dam Parks by New York City on behalf of George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees, followed by a fusillade targeted at the use of taxpayer funds and tax rebates for privately-owned professional sports teams around the U.S. (with special attention given to the Texas Rangers during George W. Bush's questionable involvement with that franchise).

Next comes corporate subsidies given to companies like Wal-Mart and Cabela sport shops in the form of land seizures (eminent domain) and tax subsidies which virtually never earn back in other taxes what is lost in the subsidy. One egregious example: Warren Buffet's GEICO insurance company received $100 million in government subsidies to build a $40 million call center in Buffalo, NY. Another is that of Tyco, General Electric, Honeywell, and others in the home alarm system business who collect monthly fees in return for placing calls with local police departments without bearing one cent's worth of the enormous cost of false alarms. Perhaps the most outrageous of Mr. Johnston's stories concerns the five companies who control 92% of the title insurance business in the United States. Not only is the industry rampant with kickbacks to developers, lawyers, and real estate brokers, the insurance itself is wildly overpriced and virtually unnecessary. No such corporate businesses exist in Australia or Europe, nor in Iowa where Johnston claims the typical title insurance premium is just $500.

FREE LUNCH progresses through, among others, the areas of health care and health insurance, pharmaceuticals, student loans, and electrical utilities (including, of course, Enron). In each case, the author illustrates how big business interests are sheltered from risk or given preference over those of the average citizen due primarily to the latter's lack of lobbyists or other voices in government that speaks on their behalf. Congress, the people's purported voice in Washington, has of course long since been purchased by corporate interests, and similar abandonment has routinely taken place at the state and local levels.

One would hope after all the horror stories that Mr. Johnston would have some thoughts on how to change things. Sadly, his suggestions occupy a meager two pages and consist of two hopelessly romantic idealizations: recognizing that "we the people" are not powerless, and "restor[ing] the ethos that cheating is wrong." In addition, and perhaps a bit more concretely, he proposes that Congressional representatives be given unlimited personal budgets in return for full and open reporting on all their expenditures coupled with a total ban (and zero tolerance) on all gifts and contributions of services. As he correctly points out, "A free lunch always costs more than an honest one." Unfortunately, it continues to be "we the people" who end up paying for all those free lunches.

Well written, informative and each chapter is a separate story about the transfer of public wealth in to the hands of the very rich. A real eye opener that every citizen should read, it will change the way you look at government.

I wanted to lose my lunch on the shoes of any politician or executive named in this book after reading what David Cay Johnston had to say. Unless you want to be cheated forever (and for more money), read this book and let your "elected" and "appointed" representatives know that you won't stand for it any more.

George Washington, as usual, got it right: If we allow political parties to exist rather than looking out for everyone's interests in a non-partisan way, the parties will sell out the public interest for pennies to get money to run election campaigns and conduct party politics.

It's popular now to say we need a change in Washington, a change that involves changing political parties in charge of governing. Wrong! Really, how foolish can we get? Can't anyone remember what Washington said?

In the meantime, you can read the excellent exposes in David Cay Johnston's book to help you realize that your Federal, state, and local legislators in the United States are selling out your and your children's interests to curry favor with those who will give them large campaign contributions. Yes, there's some corruption but mostly it seems to be related to wanting power and more power . . . and not understanding what the costs will be.

Once again, we see tales of how the fig leaf of "free markets" is invoked to put in changes that cause "rigged markets" with vastly increased profits. My favorite example in the book is how President Bush and his pal, "Kenny Boy" Lay, from Enron rigged the electricity markets so that instead of consumers paying the lowest price anyone was willing to sell electricity for (a Dutch auction) the highest price bid is paid to all (which means they take turns putting in phony high-priced bids to rig prices way above where they would be in either a free or a regulated market).

Here are some of the more interesting cases in the book:

1. How famous Scottish golf courses were re-created through indirect and direct taxpayer subsidies in a remote part of Oregon that is easily accessible only by corporate jet.

2. How public parks were gobbled up to build the new Yankee Stadium in New York City and parks in poor areas everywhere were left untended to favor richer areas.

3. Ways that college and graduate school students are cheated on their interest rates for student loans.

4. How burglar alarm monitoring companies are subsidized to earn big profits by free police services covering false alarms while response rates to real crimes decline.

5. How John Snow stopped repairing the track at CSX causing deaths with no risk that any costs would be incurred by CSX. You, the taxpayer, paid instead for his willful neglect.

6. How many "high profile" politicians including Rudy Giuliani have ignored anti-corruption laws and take huge gifts and trips from lobbyists.

7. How two leading sporting goods chains persuade governments to subsidize their stores with tax breaks worth a multiple of the total construction cost of each store.

8. How "good guy" Warren Buffett is out for all the tax breaks he can get, regardless of the public cost and harm to the local community in Buffalo.

9. How "required" title insurance creates one of America's most profitable industries by bribing banks and lawyers with money you pay when you buy a home.

10. How the California courts let Barron Hilton seize the assets of a charity that his father had established to help the poor. So if you like Paris Hilton's clothes, realize that she paid for them in part with money that was destined for those who need clothes . . . any kind of clothes.

11. We've all read about the massive amounts of money made in Russia and elsewhere by politicians selling off government operations at bargain prices to their pals. Well the same thing has been going on here with selling off municipal utilities and non-profit foundations. It's like a banana republic.

12. You'll also read about how creating "deregulated" utilities allows companies to shuffle around costs between their subsidiaries so that rate payers pay for the same construction costs twice.

13. You will be reminded of President Bush's misstatements and keeping the lid on more accurate reports about what his drug benefit plan for seniors would cost. But what's a few hundred billion for a guy who spent a trillion dollars (so far) in Iraq?

Most people would probably like this book better if it had a more partisan tone (how the Republicans stole from the poor and middle class to make the rich a lot richer). Instead, the book points at individuals (a more accurate way to assess the sources of corruption) including two-term president "the peoples' choice" George W. Bush and invokes spiritual rules for suggesting other ways of making choices.

David Cay Johnston is a crack reporter with a moralist's passion. In Free Lunch, he empties his notebook from a long and distinguished career, at the New York Times and other papers, exposing the how the rich and corporations use the power of government to line their pockets at the expense of the rest of us. The result is a loosely organized, but always compelling, compendium of some of the greatest heists of the last few decades, from taxpayer funding of sports arenas to electricity deregulation to the public subsidies Wal-Mart and other retail giants win to put their competitors out of business.

Johnston is a throwback, a Republican of the Teddy Roosevelt, Bull Moose variety, who lives by the wisdom of Adam Smith and the Bible. He understands the force of greed and its power to undermine free markets, especially when it enlists government in its service. He is appalled by the misconduct of corporate executives who jigger stock options and expose the public to harm, and by a government that looks the other way. He is outraged that the rich use government to take from those with less. And when you finish reading Free Lunch, you will be too.

David Cay Johnston's book "Perfectly Legal" was a masterpiece of muckraking which opened my eyes to the way the game is rigged in this country in favor of the rich. The book drew on his experience as a tax writer for the New York Times and presented, in tremendous detail and with great amounts of evidence, exact and precise ways in which the tax code has been rigged. It's layered and powerful - "Perfectly Legal" is an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

"Free Lunch" expands on this theme (rich people rigging this country's government to help them) feels like more of a polemic. The writing is shakier and the fact-based evidence is disguised behind a wall of obvious disgust and contempt for the people taking from the many to give to the wealthy and obscenely wealthy. I don't blame him, in fact I am disgusted by it as well, but it means that this book will not have the same impact as "Perfectly Legal". It is more "preaching to the choir" if you will.

The book also seems to bounce around too much. Some topics are covered in depth quite a bit while some not as much. Important points, like the fact that roughly 100% of the increase of value of sports teams has come from taxpayer subsidized stadiums, or that increased funding of libraries, parks, etc. could provide a useful buttress against gang crime, are not given adequate depth in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong - this is a valuable book and I do hope Johnston keeps up this important work. There is lots of good stuff in here, and it's critical more people know what politicians really mean when they talk about "free markets" and the like. But "Free Lunch" is not as convincing as "Perfectly Legal" and therein lies its greatest flaw.

The rich and wealthy elite of America are getting tons of free breaks, but who's picking up the bill? "Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill)" states how the common taxpayer doesn't gain any benefit through all of this and is simply paying for everything. "Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill)" outlines horrifying facts such as America having the most expensive but least efficient health care system in the industrialized world, subsidies for high class golf courses, and how corporations such as Major League Baseball teams get billions of dollars from the government. "Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill)" is highly recommended for economics shelves and anyone ready to be shocked by our government's spending habits.

Even a news reader on a mountain top knows the rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer. Never mind that the middle-class looks like an endangered species. The trend is clear, and not even the usual corporate mouthpieces can fuzz such relentless migrations out of existence. Now, I recall one of those boring civics classes from long ago. It talked about how government is supposed to work for "the common good". Of course, people being people, not everyone agrees on how that's best done or even what the words mean. According to my teacher, some say the common good comes with very little government, some say it's better with more government, and some say it's best with no government at all.

Maybe I was nodding off, but I don't recall a single one of those versions that said the "common good" means drowning 90% of the common good in red ink or saying that government serves best as a slush fund for those who need the money least. But it sure as heck looks like that's what the Repubocrats have come up with. It's taken them about 25 years, but here we all are. I don't know what my civics teacher would have said, but I don't think it would have been-- It ain't wrong so long as you can get away with it-- which seems to be the current corporate motto.

The book's a good read if you can keep from grabbing a a big stick. There're 23 chapters showing how the rich get richer by hiring politicians to milk the treasury's cash cow. Yes indeed, and just as importantly, it's the rest of us who get to make up the difference in tax dollars and services. You know, the kind of services 90% of us depend upon, like schools, roads, parks, cops, firefighters. And if it isn't us being whittled down, these hired hands have devised a new scheme. Now we get to pass the debt on to our kids and probably their kids' kids, along with what little else we might end up with. Now there's the American Dream turned upside down and inside out.

Along with a helpful section on the latest financial dodge, the hedge fund, the last three chapters sum things up and show where we're headed statistics-wise. And keep in mind, the book doesn't even include anything about the money being milked by those outfits plugged into the Defense Department, outfits like the Halliburton's, the Blackwater's and the rest. But then that's all "national security" so I guess they get a pass. Either that or the author couldn't write a book big enough. Meanwhile the public gets the bill, while more and more corporate jets fly to more and more ritzy watering holes. Probably I should have paid more attention in that civics class, but I do recall something interesting from a history class. It was about inviting people to eat cake when they didn't have much of anything else and what followed afterward. Maybe the Capitol library should stock up on a few more books like that. And while they're at it, they might order up a few more copies of Johnston's telling little tome.

David C. Johnston is a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter who hunted a killer the police failed to catch, exposed LAPD abuses, and exposed manipulation of the news at two TV stations. He has become an expert on exposing tax dodges by the wealthy (your taxes go up because of this). Chapter 2 explains why most Americans are worse off than in 1980 (p.10). The average income has fallen since 1973, most Americans are poorer while the wealthiest are richer. Taxes increased for most Americans while taxes decreased for the wealthiest. You can compare this to the rise of an aristocracy (p.11) that rules without competition from a populist party. The role of politics and government is the control of the economy. Its obvious with a king or aristocracy in control, less so when the corporate media shields the ruling class (p.13).

[Johnston doesn't mention the political oppression against third parties over the last century. Only a state-wide political party can challenge the corporate twin-party system. But which one?] The decadence of the media is the result of their monopolies of concentrated ownership (p.15). The swindling of assets by executives (p.16) echoes the Robber Barons of the late 19th century. Are robbers guarding the bank vaults (p.17)? The increase in poverty is bad in itself, and results in more crime and higher taxes. One form of oppression is the lack of historic usury laws. This has caused a skyrocketing rate of bankruptcy (p.19), and an increase in gambling casinos! There is the corruption of contract government workers (p.20). Government subsidies enrich big corporations (Wal-Mart, Target) while they attack local owner-operated businesses (p.21).

The gifts and benefits to the super-rich impoverish the rest of us. It leads to lower wages, lost jobs, higher taxes, disease, bankruptcy, and crime. America has one of the largest prison populations in the world. Compare that to the democracy of the 19th century (p.23). Page 24 has a short list of swindlers. Your higher taxes and lower wages made them rich! It is ironic that those who argue for government subsidies to corporations and monopolies invoke the name of Adam Smith, who was opposed to subsidies and monopolies (p.24)!

Chapter 3 tells how free market ideology injures and kills people (p.28). Does this explain decaying bridges and highways? Railroads are the most deadly form of commercial transportation (p.33). CSX passed it bills to the government (p.35)! Should the US sell important technology to a foreign power (Chapter 4)? Foreign corporate taxes are paid by US citizens (p.41). Johnston is very wrong quoting Karl Polanyi's mis-diagnosis of history (p.52). Chapter 5 explains how public property was seized to enrich a multi-millionaire (p.55)! Tax money paid for this. Johnston is wrong to blame lower property taxes (p.57) for the deliberate ruin of public parks in Los Angeles. Johnston can't connect crime (p.59) to increasing poverty due to political decisions. Chapter 6 explains how commercial sports profit from taxpayers (p.62). Is show business the anodyne of the masses (p.65)? Sports-team subsidies are an attack on the education of children when it leads to closing libraries (p.67). The exemptions to sport leagues are a subsidy to organized crime and gambling syndicates (p.69). Its all perfectly legal because the US Supreme Court said so. [What was their cut?] George Steinbrenner made millions by not building ships (p.74). Chapter 7 explains the swindle that made George W. Bush a millionaire.

This is a very educational and readable book that documents the corrupt policies of our ruling class. What can be done to correct them?

This is a summary of Johnston's books and articles over the last few years, as much as this specific book. This review will apply to this book however, certainly, just that other reviews have excellently written about the book as written, and I'd like to take a different tact, more so encapsulating Johnston's book and theories to encourage others to read it.

Here's how Congress really works: Bills turned into laws aren't written by our elected officials, by and large. They are written by industry, organizations and lobby firms. What happens is this: A specific industry, organization, "special interest group" bonds together and hires a firm, usually a lobby firm (often staffed or run by former members of Congress, who are highly paid for their work), to help them write a bill that will assist them in paying less taxes, or in deregulating their industry (or regulate competing industries), or ensuring that they are given preferential contracts or benefits. The lobby firms then go directly to Congress, both in the US Senate and House of Representatives and wine and dine them with country club visits, lavish trips, and massive amounts of money donated to their re-election campaign or their political party, or a PAC group of their choice to help them get re-elected, or damage the hopes of their opponent.

Are you with me so far? I don't think many people would dispute this for the most part anyway.

The politicians then take the bill written by the industry, and then act as compilers of sorts. Merging these bills - rarely written by them or their staff mind you - into a related bill, or often a "Christmas Tree" bill. The bills then float back and forth between committee and then the Senate or House floor, all along having provisional bills tacked on or off (usually on) until the bill passes and goes onto the President who can pass it or veto it. If the bill fails, aspects of it, or a re-write of it is often later placed onto another bill if the lobbying is strong enough and the politician has enough power to make sure it gets through.

How that pertains to this book is that Johnston doesn't say this up front, but does in the book indirectly, or conclusively after one reads it and digests it. What has happened over the last several years is that the super wealthy, and often the industry and lobby firms that represent them and benefit them (and vice versa) have so very much money, that the power game has shifted entirely in their favor to where they have no problem making certain that bills get through Congress allowing them to comparatively pay very little taxes. It's now the politician's job to act out the part of defending this position in the name of "growth" or "expansion" or "fairness" and defend attacks on it, even if the bills are completely absurd or unfair as "stopping progress" "class warfare" etc.

What makes this most apparent, and Johnston could point this out more, is that some of the super wealthy want this stopped because they see how unfair it is, and how it's destroying our country (one of the things anyway). Warren Buffett for example has clearly stated it's obscene that his secretary pays a higher percentage of her income to taxes than he does.

All in all though, Johnston does a very good job of sifting through the muck. He's obviously done his research and understands the tax code, and how Congress has shifted it and why this is so, as much as anyone in America. I suppose that's why he has two Pulitzer's for his work. And it's the reason why you should read this work.

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)Please do yourself a favor and don't read this wonderful book. It will make you so angry that you won't be able to sleep at night.

David Cay Johnston has written a book that is as informative as can be, on how big corporations and prominent people, make their living off the taxpayers of the United States. Want to know why you pay more now for electricity? Johnston explains it all. Want to know how you get hoodwinked into giving sports playpens to wealthy team owners? Johnston explains that also. Want to know why the U.S. Taxpayers pick up the tab when Amtrak wrecks on poorly maintained, privately owned rail tracks? Johnston's book tells us why.

David Cay Johnston tells all, on how the U.S. taxpayers pick up the tab for people who make it their life's work --- to live off the U.S. Taxpayer. He also tells, in conclusion, what to do to stop it.

This is a must read, if you are of a mind not to take your tax money and go out in your front yard, and just let it blow away in the wind.

First, the problems, then the solutions. We can, and must change the way we do business in our country.

This book is a start on giving us a roadmap to do that.

Once we accept the fact "The founders did not create America to make us rich." We're on our way.

"Free Lunch" is a great expose on corporate welfare.

My husband and I both read the book with heavy hearts at the information, but the book is very readable. It is an eye-opener and I don't want to vote for anyone at any level of government who has not read this book. We have sent it to our children and in-laws for must reading.

Free Lunch is a dismaying exposition on how the various levels of government in the US have been corrupted to tax most of us for the benefit of the wealthiest and most influential. It is well written and explains the sometimes complex topics very clearly. Johnston also goes out of his way to find examples of real people who have benefited and been hurt by the policies he describes.

David Cay Johnston is an impressive journalist who does the in depth research needed to report on these abuses. He obviously does much more work on his stories then most journalists. This is not just a reprise of press reports issued by companies or governments.

This book is better written and an easier read then the author's previous book Perfectly Legal. That book covered how US federal tax law has been molded to benefit the political donor class to the detriment of everyone else. Free lunch seemed more approachable, the examples are more compelling and the explanations are clearer. Free lunch flowed better and was less repetitious.

With Perfectly Legal and now Free Lunch Johnston has done a good job of explaining and bringing attention to the structural, legal corruption of our government. However the solutions he proposes do not seem to me to be effective. I hope we can find a way to fix our system, because it will not survive this way.

David Cay Johnston has exposed corporate welfare at its worst. Free enterprise ripping off the Tax Payer is eye opening and happening in communities through out the Country. This should be a must read for Mayors, County Officals, State and Federal Senators and Comgressmen.

The power for greed is assume. It seems it's necessary to teach a course on free lunch allowing everyone the oppurtunity to launder tax payer's money.

A must read for everyone who questions how even two income families can't stay afloat. David Cay Johnston spells it out clearly and simply that we're being ripped off by the rich while being distracted by double talk by corrupt politicians.

Marvelous, investigative reporting as investigative reporting is supposed to be. In support of the conclusion I propose the following amendment to the constitution; "Members of Congress shall be reimbursed from the public treasury for all those expenses associated with fulfilling the duties of their office plus travel and D.C. living expenses while denied receipt of anything of any value from any other source for whatever purpose, other than the franking privilege, except upon pain of death."

This book documents several of the drips through which we are subjecting our country to waterboarding. People we know; people we know of; people we admire and those we excoriate are all playing major roles in destroying America through relentless greed. In Free Lunch... David Cay Johnston captures the mood and fear of the last quarter century imposed by those who want to be richer and more influential no matter the risks to the ideals of the American democracy.

There's a saying that "He who has the gold makes the rules." This book proves how true this is. Those few who have the gold have learned how to game the political system to benefit them at the expense of the many. Part of that gaming is to denigrate opponents as communists or socialists. "Surely," they say, "you believe in free market economics."

Well, yes, as a matter of fact I do, but not how our political system is allowing those economics to be practiced. How revealing to discover a book providing proof of the hypocrisy of those who would advocate self reliance in all things economic. I heard a speaker say once that we have a free market economy fueled by greed and that greed must be regulated. He was as correct as Johnston is.

Chapter 22 on health care should be read by all Americans before this 2008 election for its clarification of the nature of the issue.

Chapter 26 substantiates how much the greed has been allowed to run amuck at the expense of the middle class. Doubtless there are Americans today who are not doing well because of the choices they have made in their life. Those Americans are often pointed to with the comment that "Surely you don't want to take money from people doing well to give it to those people." As this chapter proves, this is a red herring. What we should want (and need) is a level economic playing field.

For those who wring their hands and say there is nothing we can do, that those with the money have all the power, I say this. Johnston points that the number of people where wealth is concentrated is about 3 million. That means there are 297 million of the rest of us (not all of us can vote, of course) to vote for a change in the rules. That means the rest of us can change things if we can achieve a consensus in what needs to be changed and how to change it.

Speaking of the rules, I echo Johnston on page 287 in my own way. We are having the issues we are because we have forgotten (if we ever knew them in the first place) the purpose, rules and definitions of our political system.

Several reviewers have commented they find Johnston's solutions to our ills to be inadequate. That's like saying you want to find a way to lose weight that will let you overeat and never exercise and Johnston doesn't offer that. At some point, you must accept personal responsibility for things as they are and making the changes to gain things as you want them to be. That responsibility begins with gaining the clarity of knowledge a book like Johnston's offers and continues with other resources that offer a factual review of the purpose, rules and definitions I mentioned before.

If you want to get rid of the economic "kick me hard" sign on your back, begin by reading this book and tell others to do the same.

A fantastic condemnation of private and corporate greed. Well written and easy to follow. An easy to understand,well documented and well presented chapter on how the rich really are getting richer while the poor get poorer. I'm buying copies to pass around so people can see what is really happening in America.
About that grain of salt... Yes the story about Alarm companies is NOW no longer completely valid. Municipalities (some) did see that they were being robbed and now charge response fees on alarm calls. I would hope the author amends the next printing and adds some updates to that issue.
Still worth every penny as he names names and goes forward with plenty of facts and statistics to back it up.

There are a number of things wrong with this book starting with the quality of the printing/binding. I know this should not be important if the content is good. However,it was a good indicator of what was to come. While I learned a few new things about how we get screwed by our government, most of it was old news. Most dissapointing was the conclusion "What to do?". While the author offered lots of suggestions, none were concrete actions a citizen could take. Mostly they were how one should feel about all this. Very dissapointing book on a very important topic.

This book truly explains some of the reasons that our government is not serving their people very well with how our tax dollars are being spent You will be amazed and shocked. I highly recommend everyone read this one before the next Presidential election.

After making yet another unsuccessful attempt to slog through this book before it became due back at the public library, it dawned on me how many volumes of muckraking I've purchased but never seem to have finished. I own the Rev. Johnston's previous book, Perfectly Legal : The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich--and CheatEverybody Else, The Cheating of America: How Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing the Country Billions--and What You Can Do About It by Lewis & Allison, and (for some reason, three copies of) America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? by Bartlett & Steele. Why is it that I grab such books with alacrity, but never finish them? Is it some defect in my character? Did I then accept bribes from the oil industry to put them down?

The topical books from conservative writers are no better. The muckrakers at least offer a few unimpeachable facts scattered among the pages of breast-beating, while the free-market cabal will only adduce that something is certainly wrong if it is in contradiction with the holy scripture of the Prophet Adam (Smith). But what these books all have in common is that they're preaching to you, and of course, preaching is just a polite term for trying to sell you on something.

This is in contrast to the great social critics of the past, such as H. L. Mencken or I. F. Stone, who would state their facts and opinions succinctly and cogently, but you were left to make-up your own mind; that's why they're still a pleasure to read. Rev. Johnston (et al.) tries too hard to make the reader burst into tears over the egregious injustice of it all. In his pious exhortations, he quotes the I Have A Dream speech of the late Rev. Dr. King, the Sermon on the Mount, and if I ever finish the book, I'm certain I'll find dialogue from "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Charlotte's Web," as well.

This desultory preaching and goiterous prose occasionally reaches comic proportions, as when the Rev. Johnston calls the proprietors of an Oregon golf course "fools" for proposing to transport golfers with helicopters, "ignoring . . . their reputation for suddenly falling out of the sky." And if you're not lying awake at night in fear of falling helicopters, you should be outraged and in a dither over the alarming (yuk) rate of false burglar alarms.

But there is a certain type of person who is now snorting and huffing over this, the type of person for whom this book was written. The woman who handed me this book at the library called it "depressing," but ironically, some people (commonly caucasians of the distaff side), genuinely enjoy being outraged. They are happiest (if you can call it that) when they call attention to how persecuted and oppressed they are, and their favorite activity is to sing "We Shall Overcome" during a candlelight vigil in protest of something . . . anything. In his sermonizing, the Rev. Johnston is thus preaching to the choir, because I'd wager all the factories I own in China that not one person who purchased this book ever voted for Bush (any of them) or Tom DeLay or Ted Stevens or Boss Tweed or any such lackeys and agents of the robber barons. This book is not about the facts -- if all one wanted were facts, there is better and more timely information available in Gretchen Morgenson's column in the New Yawk Times. Instead, this book is something to make liberals feel even more righteous and noble as they hiss at the villainous vested-interests described herein -- all playing golf while drinking $10,000-a-bottle cognac purchased with the filthy lucre they made by throwing orphans into the street.

Another reviewer here raised a very good question: if it's all so bad, what should be done to remedy the corruption endemic to our society? The Rt. Rev. Johnston has misleadingly titled a chapter "What to Do?" but it is of no worth, as it offers not one practical remedy but instead maddeningly resumes preaching -- this time quoting the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Prophet Jeremiah, and a poem by Lisa Simpson. I'll grant Rev. Johnston that the crimes he describes at excessive length are indeed deplorable, but just how are we supposed to respond? Are we to run down the street in our nightshirts, banging on doors? Write letters to some editor, any editor? Orate while standing on a soapbox in front of the Wachovia bank? Public self-immolation? Team-up with the geese on golf courses?

Here I'll cut the Rev. Johnston some slack, because there may, in fact, be no solution. It is my suspicion that capitalism, an artificial scheme of the 18th century, may prove to be as unworkable as its rival scheme of the 19th century -- communism. It may well be that the natural state of society is feudalism, and I can imagine that soon, the wealthy nobility, the owners of everything, will be safely ensconced in their gated communities, protected by private armies and moats, while the rest of us labor in their behalf while living in squalor.

Or has this already happened?

Yes, as some of the reviewers have noticed, most of us knew already (in general) about existence of this perfectly 'legal' bribery system in our government. Still, the author provided many important details that help one see it in a new perspective, with much better understanding. Personally, I was shocked.

David Johnston's book should be required reading for every American, especially before they vote. Forget the "welfare cheats". Corporate welfare puts them to shame. In Free Lunch, Johnston tells you in great detail who and what corporations are ripping off the American taxpayer--to the tune of billions of dollars--and who in the government are helping them do it.

This book will make you angry, and it should. Our hard-earned tax dollars (and our children's and grandchildrens' to come) are being wasted on the wealthy and powerful who know what buttons to push, and who to wine and dine, in Washington. It's the story rarely told by the mainstream media, who are too afraid of offending the wrong advertisers. David Johnston isn't--and America is better for it.

And you thought old Sam Walton built his empire mostly through good honest American hard work and cunning...think again! Subsidies given to corporations, by the government, equate to what David Cay Johnston says is "Corporate socialism". It is also called "Corporate welfare". And it happens all the time.

He talks about how other business entities steal property from people, and other businesses, through mis-use of eminent domain. One example he gives is the Bush/Texas Ranger stadium that ruined people's lives by stealing their property...houses and businesses...where the stadium was built.

The "wealthy elite" propaganda machine keeps right-wing minds spinning with the specter of sleazy poor women, with 10 kids, getting welfare checks every month.....doesn't even come close to what it costs the taxpayer to support "corporate socialism". Socialism is a bad word that has been pounded into our fears...left over from the bad old "Duck and Cover" days of the cold war. Talk about Psy-Ops....and they are still at it.

Our government gives tax incentives to corporations to send our jobs overseas. Then the profits from these overseas entities get stuck into off-shore accounts which "hides", and avoids, US taxation. The little guy gets stuck with all the taxes. And the IRS goes after the little guy because he is relatively defenseless because he can't afford the lawyers like the big boys can. Besides, they're all in on it...the banks, the corporations, the politicians.

Now that our economy is in shambles, so many people have lost their jobs to offshore, etc., who is going to pay the taxes? Not those without a job. Who is going to buy all of the goods or services....not those without a job. I wonder what new trick for screwing the people the wealthy have in store for us now that there is no one left to pay the taxes...except them? Oh yes, there is always "Soylent Green"!

After reading this book, you'll realize just how hopeless our condition is. Johnston's final chapter, "What To Do," offers nothing more than a "we better go get 'em before it's too late" recommendation. Well, it's already too late.

I enjoyed this book but I found it to be an exercise in venting and anger more than a practical and useful exercise. What would be of greater purpose is if the author suggested some real term solutions but he does not. In fact the book looks at the abuses in the system and suggests they are the norm all the while excluding any cases to the contrary. Yes George Steinbrenner is building a new stadium using city funds but isn't that an issue for the voters of New York City to decide is worth their tax dollars? If they feel it is not they vote the bums out of office. Buffalo, another city cited in the article, has repeatedly voted against a new stadium for the Bills and has a very positive record of securing strong deals with new businesses. The book does not mention Warren Buffet contributing $30 million to Buffalo's libraries and public schools.

All in all this is entertaining but very biased. Of course we all think government spending is wasteful unless of course we are the ones who benefit from it. Being from Boston I know that the Big Dig is a huge waste of tax payer money but I will happily drive on it anytime day or night compared to its predecessor. So while you read this book remember that you are benefiting in some way, shape or form from a government abuse.

What a great book! I can only read a few pages at a time before having to put it down to let my blood pressure settle. Are we in the lower echelons getting screwed or what? Thanks Mr. Johnston for this real eye opener. It's as good, if not better, than your 'Perfectly Legal". When are the wealthy ever satisfied?

The author is a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter. His facts are solid and his conclusions are justified. The corruption he uncovers are no small matter and even sheds light on why our economy is failing.

Deregulation sounded nice - Let's allow the market to determine for itself what is best... All well and good until you realize that capitalism run amok without regulation leads to corruption and the elimination of competition. Entrepreneurial spirit is now being snuffed out along with innovation and efficiency.

Everything from Enron to the title insurance industry, he gets it all. When large corporations have high paying jobs waiting for regulators and legislators, should it be any surprise that the decision making processes of our government has become tainted? When our regulators are the victims of extortion (see the Chapter on title insurance), should it be any surprise that enforcement actions are light handed? When huge government subsidies are given to large corporations and not given to the local businesses, should it be any surprise that the subsidized corporations have an unfair business advantage and put the local companies out of business?

This author tells it how it is and backs it up with a compilation of New York Times investigative reporting and more...

I only wish he had a solution to what appears to be an unresolvable problem.

Excellent read.

Doug Miller

I stumbled upon an anti-David Cay Johnston blog called "David Cay Johnston Watch". On it the author attempts and fails at a smear campaign on Mr. Johnston. Instead of attacking the authenticity of the data in the book, the blogger chose to attack Mr. Johnston himself. Why not attack the data? the facts? or at least the arguments made in "Free Lunch""? I still haven't found a credible attack on the facts, real life examples, and cold hard data that Johnston collected. Johnston points out over and over and over again that our system has been given over the super wealthy and powerful to take from the many to give to the few. Social welfare is not our problem, it is corporate welfare that hurts our markets, hurts our economy and only benefits a few. READ THIS BOOK!

When you finish this book you will want the word 'privatize' to added to the devil's dictionary.

It is quite shocking to understand how some wealthy businessmen can make so much money taking advantage of various government programs at all levels of government. And ultimately, it is the average person that ends up paying.

There is a lot of detail in the book which makes it difficult to read and understand at times. But, one still comes away with the essence of how shrewd businessmen (sometimes with the aid of politicians) operate to make millions of dollars that ultimately cost us more in taxes of all kinds.

If you enjoy understanding how things work, this is an interesting read in seeing what happens that we seldom hear about or understand.

People collecting government welfare really are driving Cadillacs, as journalist David Cay Johnston's book FREE LUNCH explains. But they're not the welfare queens of which politicians such as Ronald Reagan spoke to divide and conquer the electorate. Rather, since 1981 American taxpayer money has made the rich even richer while everyone else got poorer.

Here is an overview of each FREE LUNCH chapter:

1. WITHOUT EVEN ASKING
The wealthy play golf but, talk about "green" fees, taxpayers finance it.

2. MISTER REAGAN'S QUESTION
The U.S. government is just as big today as it was when in 1980 Ronald Reagan purported to want to reduce it. It's just that it funnels money to those in the penthouses instead of those in the commons.

3. TRUST AND CONSEQUENCES
The public takes the risks so private industry can make billions and billions of dollars, rather than have to settle for just billions.

4. CHINESE MAGNETISM
Nothing costs the American working class as much as free trade.

5. SEIZING THE COMMONS; and
6. PRIDE AND PROFITS
The New York Yankees are stealing a lot more than bases, thanks to George Steinbrenner.

7. YOUR LAND IS MY LAND
How another baseball owner named George - that is, George W. Bush - and his political buddies got the public to pay for his baseball team, making him wealthy.

8. BOUNTY HUNTERS
The 2000 presidential election wasn't the only thing the Supreme Court's politically-appointed judges were willing to help steal. They'll also help a huge corporation like DaimlerChrysler steal a small business owner's land.

9. GOIN' FISHIN'
Taxpayers subsidize Wal-Mart.

10. JUST SAY NO
Taxpayers subsidize Warren Buffett.

11. BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY
Taxpayers pick up the tab for executives' private jets.

12. FALSE ALARM
Years ago Public Enemy had a song, "9-1-1's A Joke." One big, expensive reason why the police take so long to respond to your emergency call is home security system false alarms, for which the public pays.

13. HOME ROBBERY
Title insurance is something for which home buyers do need a burglar alarm.

14. INDENTURED SCHOLARS
How Sallie Mae went from a government-sponsored entity serving college students to a for-profit, legal loan-sharking outfit.

15. SELLING THE FURNITURE
A wealthy corporate executive is likelier to get a homeowner tax break than someone who needs it.

16. SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN
The Hiltons steal a large portion of their patriarch's estate from the impoverished.

17. TROJAN HORSE;
18. SIGHTLESS SHERIFFS; and
19. PAYING TWICE
The great gift of a deregulated electricity market proves a shocker.

20. RISING SNOW
The story of John Snow, one who's reaped the rewards of government and industry enriching the few at the expense of the many.

21. UNHEALTHY ECONOMICS;
22. LESS FOR MORE; and
23. HOOKED ON DRUGS
Only in the United States does someone go bankrupt because of medical bills. Today a congressman, tomorrow a health insurance or drug company lobbyist.

24. "I'M BEING TRAPPED"
Investment firms line their pockets with our money and leave us with the lint.

25. NONE DARE CALL IT STEALING
The I.R.S. protects tax cheats, as long as it's millions they're stealing. Yet audits of those earning $25,000 are way up.

26. NOT SINCE HOOVER
The gap between wealthy and poor in America has not been this great since right before the Great Depression.

Read the book FREE LUNCH by journalist David Cay Johnston. Here is an overview of each chapter:

1. WITHOUT EVEN ASKING
The wealthy play golf and have the balls to stick the taxpayer with the green fees and a lot more.

2. MISTER REAGAN'S QUESTION
The U.S. government is just as big today as it was when in 1980 Ronald Reagan purported to want to reduce it. It's just that it funnels money to those in the penthouses instead of those in the commons.

3. TRUST AND CONSEQUENCES
The public takes the risks so private industry can make billions and billions of dollars, rather than have to settle for just billions.

4. CHINESE MAGNETISM
Nothing costs the American working class as much as free trade.

5. SEIZING THE COMMONS; and
6. PRIDE AND PROFITS
The New York Yankees are stealing a lot more than bases, thanks to George Steinbrenner.

7. YOUR LAND IS MY LAND
How another baseball owner named George - that is, George W. Bush - and his political buddies got the public to pay for his baseball team, making him wealthy.

8. BOUNTY HUNTERS
The 2000 presidential election wasn't the only thing the Supreme Court's politically-appointed judges were willing to help steal. They'll also help a huge corporation like DaimlerChrysler steal a small business owner's land.

9. GOIN' FISHIN'
Taxpayers subsidize Wal-Mart.

10. JUST SAY NO
Taxpayers subsidize Warren Buffett.

11. BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY
Taxpayers pick up the tab for executives' private jets.

12. FALSE ALARM
Years ago Public Enemy had a song, "9-1-1's A Joke." One big, expensive reason why the police take so long to respond to your emergency call is home security system false alarms, for which the public pays.

13. HOME ROBBERY
Title insurance is something for which home buyers do need a burglar alarm.

14. INDENTURED SCHOLARS
How Sallie Mae went from a government-sponsored entity serving college students to a for-profit, legal loan-sharking outfit.

15. SELLING THE FURNITURE
A wealthy corporate executive is likelier to get a homeowner tax break than someone who needs it.

16. SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN
The Hiltons steal back a large portion of their patriarch's estate from the impoverished.

17. TROJAN HORSE;
18. SIGHTLESS SHERIFFS; and
19. PAYING TWICE
The great gift of a deregulated electricity market proves a shocker.

20. RISING SNOW
The story of John Snow, one who's reaped the rewards of government and industry enriching the few at the expense of the many.

21. UNHEALTHY ECONOMICS;
22. LESS FOR MORE; and
23. HOOKED ON DRUGS
Only in the United States does someone go bankrupt because of medical bills. Today a congressman, tomorrow a health insurance or drug company lobbyist.

24. "I'M BEING TRAPPED"
Investment firms line their pockets with our money and leave us with the lint.

25. NONE DARE CALL IT STEALING
The I.R.S. protects tax cheats, as long as it's millions they're stealing. Yet audits of those earning $25,000 are way up.

26. NOT SINCE HOOVER
The gap between wealthy and poor in America has not been this great since right before the Great Depression.

Read the book FREE LUNCH by journalist David Cay Johnston. Here is an overview of each chapter:

1. WITHOUT EVEN ASKING
The wealthy play golf and have the balls to stick the taxpayer with the green fees.

2. MISTER REAGAN'S QUESTION
The U.S. government is just as big today as it was when in 1980 Ronald Reagan purported to want to reduce it. It's just that it funnels money to those in the penthouses instead of those in the commons.

3. TRUST AND CONSEQUENCES
The public takes the risks so private industry can make billions and billions of dollars, rather than have to settle for just billions.

4. CHINESE MAGNETISM
Nothing costs American as much as free trade.

5. SEIZING THE COMMONS; and
6. PRIDE AND PROFITS
The New York Yankees are stealing a lot more than bases.

7. YOUR LAND IS MY LAND
How another baseball owner named George - that is, George W. Bush - and his political buddies got the public to pay for his baseball team and pocketed the profits.

8. BOUNTY HUNTERS
The 2000 presidential election wasn't the only thing the Supreme Court's politically-appointed judges were willing to help steal. They'll also help a huge corporation like DaimlerChrysler steal a small business owner's land.

9. GOIN' FISHIN'
The government subsidizes Wal-Mart.

10. JUST SAY NO
The government subsidizes Warren Buffett.

11. BEAUTY AND THE BOUNTY
Taxpayers pick up the tab for executives' private jets.

12. FALSE ALARM
Years ago Public Enemy had a song, "9-1-1's A Joke." One big, expensive reason why the police take so long to respond to your emergency call is the public is paying for home security system false alarms.

13. HOME ROBBERY
Title insurance is something for which home buyers do need a burglar alarm.

14. INDENTURED SCHOLARS
How Sallie Mae went from a government-sponsored entity serving college students to legal loan-sharking.

15. SELLING THE FURNITURE
A wealthy corporate executive is likelier to get a homeowner tax break than someone who needs it.

16. SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN
The Hiltons steal back a large portion of their patriarch's estate from the impoverished.

17. TROJAN HORSE;
18. SIGHTLESS SHERIFFS; and
19. PAYING TWICE
The great gift of a deregulated electricity market proves a shocker.

20. RISING SNOW
The story of John Snow, who's reaped the rewards of government and industry enriching the few at the expense of the many.

21. UNHEALTHY ECONOMICS;
22. LESS FOR MORE; and
23. HOOKED ON DRUGS
Only in the United States does someone go bankrupt because of medical bills. Today a congressman, tomorrow a health insurance or drug company lobbyist.

24. "I'M BEING TRAPPED"
Investment firms line their pockets with our money leave us with the lint.

25. NONE DARE CALL IT STEALING
The I.R.S. protects tax cheats, as long as it's millions they're stealing. Yet audits of those earning $25,000 are way up.

26. NOT SINCE HOOVER
The gap between wealthy and poor in America has not been this great since right before the Great Depression.

The author drones on and on to support his assumptions. In most cases, nothing he says is anything that a person who keeps up on government and events already knows. He breaks no new ground. Each chapter could be summed up in three pages, saving the reader from hours of useless supporting information. Very hard to stay awake reading this dribble. Only the true leftist in the world would rate this book at better than average. A lousy read; don't waste your money.

If you had any question about how rich people get SO rich... this book answers many of them. The playing field is NOT level. It's not a fair trade market and we need to get more involved in local politics to make our voices hear. We're only the little people if we decide to be.

Mr. Johnston has done a terrific amount of work to amass a telling and damning story of what the free market system has become in the U.S.--a system designed from top to bottom not to deliver goods and services but to rob the taxpayers by diverting their monies from public good to private greed of unimagined proportions. This is a well documented tale of greed, corruption, theft, collusion and the self fulfilling prophecy of the old adage of power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely. With this tool we may begin to take back the country!