If I close a store in city A and open one in city B because of more favorable taxes, that's tax avoidance without any corruption needed anywhere. The same is true if the motive is a lower risk of unionizing. No dishonesty or hidden payoffs are required.
Corruption is like the air we breathe -- it's everywhere, and we've all gotten so used to it that we don't even notice it anymore. You don't think state and local tax rates (in City A and City B) are also driven by corporate money?
My point isn't that Politician X took a bribe for Corporation Y and that's why taxes are low. I'm saying that laws have been designed in a way that favors those who currently have the most political power. It's so engrained that it's difficult to imagine a system without it. Now, that's not to say that this can't change over time and different groups can't acquire more political power through organizing or otherwise, but in my view the state of things currently is that corporate money dominates politics.
