BS BULLETIN:

• Barack Obama says the federal government is “so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been” when it comes to bribes, patronage and favors.
• The former president also suggested reforms that killed old political machines made governing harder by removing some of the “lubrication” that helped politicians make deals.
• His assessment comes as Americans’ perception that government corruption is widespread has reached a record high.

Barack Obama has some reassuring news about Washington. Apparently, it’s less corrupt than ever.

“People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors,” the former president said on his newly launched podcast.

Obama made the observation during an episode of “A Great Book with Barack Obama,” his new six-part Audible series.

The podcast debuted Thursday and features Obama discussing influential books with guests including Tom Hanks, Ta-Nehisi Coates, historian Jill Lepore and former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes.

The corruption discussion came during Obama’s conversation with Lepore about Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 political novel “All the King’s Men.”

And Obama wasn’t simply arguing that Washington has cleaned up its act.

He also suggested something interesting happened when America cleaned up the old political machines:

Government became harder to run.

Obama pointed to the Lyndon Johnson era, when political leaders could corner lawmakers and essentially ask them, “What do you need?”

Reforms before and after Watergate, Obama said, “eliminated or greatly reduced” political machines’ ability to trade votes and favors.

That was largely a good thing. But apparently it had a downside.

Obama said the old system provided some “lubrication” that helped lawmakers bridge ideological differences and persuade members to vote for legislation they otherwise might not support.

Lepore agreed that political machines had played a role in civil society, while making clear she wasn’t trying to “whitewash” their corruption.

She noted that Progressive Era reforms killed much of the traditional political machine — but argued that a political consulting industry eventually took its place.

There is an important qualification to Obama’s claim.

He was specifically talking about traditional corruption involving direct bribes, patronage and political favors.

That’s considerably narrower than the broader definition Americans may have in mind when pollsters ask whether government corruption is widespread.

And Americans apparently aren’t feeling Obama’s optimism.

Gallup reported earlier this month that 89% of Americans said government corruption is widespread — a record high in its polling and up 10 percentage points from last year.

So perhaps Obama has identified one of Washington’s greatest communications problems.

The government has apparently never been less corrupt.

It just forgot to tell almost everybody who lives here.

MY QUICK TAKE

I understand Obama’s distinction, and it’s actually an interesting one.

Maybe fewer envelopes stuffed with cash are changing hands in smoky back rooms.

But when 89% of the country thinks corruption is widespread, announcing that Washington is historically clean feels a little like telling people stuck in traffic that, statistically speaking, the highway is moving beautifully.

Somebody may want to roll down the window and ask the drivers.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Axios — Obama: U.S. government is “much less corrupt” than ever before
• The Hill — Obama: Government is ‘so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been’
• BroadwayWorld — ‘A Great Book with Barack Obama’ debuts on Audible
• Book Riot — Obama’s new Audible series and episode lineup