 Until recently , the full panoply of potential federal resources had not been brought to bear effectively on corruption schemes at the state and local level . These schemes are at least as corrosive of the governmental process as corruption at the federal level . From the time of Tammany Hall this country has been painfully aware of the existence of corrupt practices in many of our metropolitan areas , and of the " machines " and " rings " which siphon off millions of dollars from public treasuries for private gain . Most state and local prosecutors , beset by inadequate resources and the overwhelming demands of a rising rate of street crime , are simply unable to deal with this type of corruption . Moreover , in some cases , local law enforcement is part and parcel of the problem itself , due to the outright corruption of its own establishment . 
