It's not as straightforward with VC money. VCs have to answer to investors.

(Hopefully someone more knowledgable can chime in,) but I always thought VC was a mix of government, private, and institutional funds?

I think there's an argument that taxpayers are indirectly funding all of this.

If you assume that the government needs $X to perform its function then when tax rates are cut for corporations and those wealthy enough to game the system, its everyone else whose taxes pay the shortfall. The reason there is so much money floating around the top end is specifically because they've figured out how to foist their tax burden onto others.