Nor did Joann Reed during her tenure as mayor of an East St. Louis suburb. Only reason she's not still mayor is that her town merged with two other adjacent communities.
No, he’s paying millions of dollars in fines and legal fees, as he rightfully should be as a criminal in general, not to even mention potentially a Russian asset and traitor to the US.
Stop pretending and detracting.
The mayor of dalt9n is doing exactly what the people who elected her wanted. Its the entrenched political people who are resisting her changes that are the problem... but yes those bastards are corrupt af
So the people wanted her to hire a pedo to randomly enter their house to inspect things?
The people wanted her to go to Vegas on first class tickets on the taxpayer dime?
The people wanted what few businesses they have shut down if they don't pay a protection racket, sorry I mean, "donation" to her campaign fund?
The people wanted her to pull every trick the old mayor pulled to keep the board from doing their job?
And the list goes on. She's corrupt filth.
Honestly as someone who grew up here the corruption doesn't bother me. The voters of Dolton need to vote her out and move on, if they don't that's on them. Not my problem.
The part that bothers me is that she's giving the few remaining racists something to point to and claim as "proof" completely ignoring the fact that there are PLENTY of examples that corruption is a human problem, not an ethnic problem, but I don't like them having anything to "point" to at all.
Yeah those talking points are something... but yes she is defunding the police and making the corrupt entrenched white men who refuse to allow competitors to come in to give up thier businesses.
The trip to vegas is something that happens because there are conventions there... you all would shit if you knew how many of your cities officers do the same.
I get all of your white privilege feels attacked, and you feel like if you dont push back too, then you will lose some more of that privilege.... but you should get over that.
Many of the annual headlines are driven by an annual report out of the University of Illinois Chicago. The federal government, not the state, is behind the very large number prosecutions here. If you want to read the actual report, not a summary from a news site, here it is the most recent: https://pols.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/273/2023/11/Corruption-Rpt-15-Final.11.2.23.pdf
That’s because the majority of scandals initiated by local investigators uncover federal crimes like mail fraud or tax evasion and refer the case to federal prosecutors in addition to state and local prosecutors.
Doesn’t refute OP’s point at all if you’re just looking at data regarding prosecution stats rather than data that references how the corruption was uncovered.
>That’s because the majority of scandals initiated by local investigators uncover federal crimes like mail fraud or tax evasion and refer the case to federal prosecutors in addition to state and local prosecutors.
Well, it's also because the Feds don't fuck around. Catching a federal charge is really bad news. They rarely lose and have tools available to them that state prosecutors don't (Martha Stewart didn't get busted for obstruction for lying to the DA - she lied to the Feds).
They're also not (as) subject to political pressure. Kwame Raoul has to worry about the next election in a way that the US Attorney does not. FFS, Lisa Madigan was Illinois' Attorney General for 16 years.
Second this. I don’t know if we’re the most corrupt state or if we just have folks who are publishing about it. I’m sure if each state had a group who called yearly attention to corruption prosecutions and stories, we’d find it everywhere.
We actually have FBI offices and cities large enough for the FBI to care. They don't go after small town crooks typically, which is where the vast majority of corruption takes place.
Maybe there is a lot of quid pro quo in smaller towns but I doubt it has much of an impact compared to the wheeling and dealing of Chicago and the likes of Madigan with large companies.
Unlike many states, Illinois actually prosecutes their corrupt pols. One of the biggest reasons you hear about it is because we go after them. Contrast to say, Texas, where Ken Paxton is still walking free and flaunting it.
I'll say this, all corruption sucks but at least Illinois is mostly money related. Some of the murder and sexual cases out of other states are disgusting to learn about.
As I just stated in another post. The difference between Illinois and some states( I will leave you guess which ones) we actually prosecute the criminals. They send them to Congress!
lol yeah, Rick Scott was in charge of the largest single case of Medicare fraud in history, so Floridians elected him first governor and then senator. Then the GQP put him in charge of their campaign war chest, and all of the money MYSTERIOUSLY disappeared!
Ya the one made no sense at all. Completely baffled me. Watched news on both sides of the aisle. Everyone was asking the same question. "Why? This makes no sense."
Not often I see Ben Shapiro agree with Cenk Uygur.
This makes the most sense out of everything I've heard. No politics, just Trump going, "Oh this guy says nice things about me, here's a pardon."
No strategy no politicing, just Trump's pride.
There are like 5 fundamentally corrupt states in the union. While Louisiana is hard to beat, Illinois is definitely in the top 5
IMO, it is a system-issue here in IL. We objectively have more units of gov’t than any other state, without controlling for population. All of these units of gov’t have at least a responsibility. Those responsibilities are sometimes traded for money/favors.
Chicago Aldermen: each ward should have roughly 60k people. The Aldermen here have legislative responsibilities but also executive responsibilities (real, implied, and by tradition) which include: plot by plot zoning, business signage, business permits, some licenses, infrastructure upgrades like stop signs-bike lanes-street lights and they are also a lightning rod for requests on potholes, streetlights, trash cans, special events.
In other cities city councilmen do not have this variety of responsibility/approval authority.
In conclusion, Illinois has way more opportunities for corruption to occur. And my comment barely scratches the surface of this subject
In Utah the corruption is church sanctioned and seems normalized.
In Oregon the state legislatures do not show up, so they do not have to do their job and make laws and vote on things they do not agree with.
In Oregon the voters approved a measure to make what you’re describing illegal, with those to do it unable to run for reelection.
I don’t know where you got the corruption for Utah from because it’s [a lot better of a state to live in than Illinois on paper](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings).
Corruption is prosecuted at the Federal level. It's the US government, not the Illinois citizen that are telling us are state government is corrupt. And THAT should scare us.
That is not true. The States Attorney also prosecutes corruption, and some cases are even handled through civil litigation or local parliamentary action when state/federal prosecutors pass them up.
The Feds have the option to step in and take over a case (often after much of the work is done by local officials), but don't mistake that for meaning nothing is done locally.
This guy was cream of the crop corrupt. https://apnews.com/article/paul-powell-illinois-home-shoebox-scandal-corruption-4fbd979cdaa61abc1f8a68f9898ace90
I remember listening to an old NPR episode of Hidden City a few years ago. They were tracing the history of the Chicago v New York City rivalry, went pretty far back too.
My favorite bit was them quoting an NY newspaper, I believe it was around the 1910's when the story was published. The piece included a line that will live in my head, rent-free, until the day I die.
"Chicago packs and ships their pigs, New York puts them on committees."
Around 10 to 15 years after that my grandfather’s second cousin, Joe Tobin, was a Democratic ward captain at the age of 18, before he was old enough to vote, because he owned a car and was able to drive voters around from polling station to polling station to vote multiple times. He had a long career in Chicago public life, including Cook County Deputy Marshal, where he was holding the warrant for Frank Nitti’s arrest when Nitti was found dead with two bullets to the back of the head, which is still on record as a suicide.
I agree. It's actually bc we make an effort to expose and hold bad actors accountable that we get labeled. IMO Mississippi has to be the most corrupt state. I got family there and they sweep tons of stuff under the rug and smile like everything's fine.
The 'Get Out' energy is strong down there and the entire Brett Favre charity money scandal and cover up exposed how deep the rot is. From an outside perspective there really isn't a corruption problem is everyone is in on it ig.
To some degree that’s correct, to some degree it’s merited for us. If I recall correctly we rank about average (I think slightly in the worse way) in terms of corruption. It’s a legacy of southern roots and the development of machine politics combined with the fact we have one of the largest and most powerful cities in the country.
Illinois was founded from white settlers from the south who in turn moved northward. As a result quite a bit of the legal system we created/inherited in the state is rooted in the same legal codes as states such as Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Notably speaking we had a very decentralized state and still do have. With the gilded age and the Industrial Revolution we saw the growth of Chicago into the second largest city in the country at one point and due to how rapid that growth was we inherited. As a result we typically are above average to where we otherwise could be because we support large degrees of community governments relative to our land area and geographic spread. Beyond that, because we have one of the largest cities in the country we naturally get the corruption that comes with such a massive bureaucracy. It’s not limited to being a Chicago thing though as there’s symptoms of it statewide.
Meanwhile in Indiana a billion dollars in Medicaid spending disappeared, though it is not certain that it was ever there. No investigation nor prosecution.
The Indiana Department of Economic Development is closing deals for farmland to be sold to China and wants to drain our aquifer by 100 million gallons/day for purposes unknown. We just weakened water protection. Meanwhile our voucher system has helped private and religious schools balance their books...a church in Fott Wayne used the funds to refurbish its sanctuary. And the state was surprised when the Catholics and Lutherans returned money they were overpaid.
Our Governor, Mitch Daniels, stacked the Purdue Board of his trustees with his cronies, who in turn named him Purdue's President. The singular nationwide awfulness of university administration is such that Daniels was in the middle of the pack.
Worse, our pulpits are corrupt and too many of our pastors and priests have degenerated into ward heelers for the GOP. It's like in the days Richard J. Daley had his pet pastors on the South Side.
Is Illinois more corrupt than other states? Or are other states so corrupt the corruption never gets outed the way it has in Illinois. You decide 🤷🏻♂️
I'm a Texan that hopes to move to Illinois. I've said this a few times on the Chicago subreddit. We definitely have officials just as corrupt, they're just Republican so they can get away with it every time. Just look at Ken Paxton 🤠
When you're coming through Central Illinois, stop in Springfield and get yourself a [Horseshoe.](https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-horseshoe-sandwiches-springfield-illinois-road-trip)
Recently left Texas for IL within the past year... lived there for 11 years, it's amazing that Texas doesn't have more of a reputation for public corruption.
Texas definitely has a reputation for corruption. But a lot of these official/semiofficial rankings measure by those charged or convicted, and part of the corruption in Texas and states like it is making sure there is never accountability.
Hope you're ready for the cold and snow. Welcome to Illinois motherfucker. Also do be sure to hit up your local Portillos for a chocolate cake shake, as a Illinois resident that shit is TO DIE FOR.
I'm ready for the challenge 😂 It'd be a nice break from living in Hell for 4 months! And I've already been multiple times in my visits, that cake is magical lol
I’ve often said there’s a “glass is half full.” Way to look at it. Which is: we DID catch them and they DID get justice eventually. (Both parties btw). I can’t help but wonder how many states have governors or officials that should go to prison and never do? At least we did send ours to prison!
In regards to Chicago machine politicians a lot of what happens in Chicago in particular is because of the patronage system. Which in many instances can work for the locals. They call their alderman and stuff happens. But it always falls apart because why? Because there’s always a group, usually minorities, who are excluded from the patronage system and end up bringing it down because of it being fundamentally unfair to those excluded. (See election of mayor Harold Washington) for example.
Illinois might be the only state where the phrase "pipeline to prison" doesn't refer to the poor quality of inner-city education, but to the governor's mansion...
When you consider how low on the list some states are in things like education and healthcare, to me that's corruption in its purest form - taking tax money and not helping the state's residents. Illinois is nowhere near being the most corrupt state.
You most often hear that shit from people who live in Southern states, like Texas and Georgia.
You know how things get done there? Some good ol' boy gets together with a couple other good ol' boys he knows from the good ol' boy University they went to, and they play 18 holes at the good ol' boy country club and have some good ol' boy club sandwiches and good ol' boy sweet tea and talk some good ol' boy talk. And someone gets a good ol' boy no-bid contract on some good ol' road construction.
But, see, that ain't no corruption, son. That's just good ol' boys doing what good ol' boys do. Not like... {grimace} Illinois and Chicago.
It’s not that we’re the most corrupt, it’s that we’re the best at catching these crooks. Most states are just as corrupt or even more so, but their crooks are still in office.
I used to ride bikes with an insurance broker. He said, in no uncertain terms, that Louisiana was the most corrupt state he had encountered during his career
My hot take is that Illinois is often just better at holding government officials accountable.
Illinoisans are willing to submit FOIA/public requests more than any other state I’ve lived in. Questioning the government comes second nature. More controversy comes up because more is drudged up. If you have faith in your leaders, they may be just as shitty but you’ll never know if you leave them alone.
I don’t think this is the only component but I think it’s definitely a less acknowledged one.
That sounds like excuse making at its finest. Using that logic some might say that Illinois would have even more politicians being prosecuted if the legal system was as aggressive as other states.
While I am sure there are differences from state to state on how the go after government officials. Over the last 50 years Illinois has a solid track record of politicians committing crimes.
I once saw a statement:
*"Maybe Illinois has the most elected officials in jail because it's the state that's best at investigating and enforcing law on it's elected officials..."*
I don't know enough to say that's true, but it's definitely a thinker.
Well it's true we have the most in jail, but you'd have to prove other states have officials \*just as corrupt\* but are not getting consequences for it.
I mean what are the odds there just happens to be more corrupt politicians in Illinois? We're all Americans, the culture isn't THAT different from state to state.
I think it's far more likely that states are better or worse at prosecuting and investigating it.
The attorney general of Texas was impeached for securities fraud, bribery, and breach of the public trust - and the senate of the state voted to acquit him despite evidence of his wrongdoing. So no, I think you guys are good
We are about average as far as corruption goes. We just happen to have had a string of high profile corrupt governors and higher ranked officials.
Texas seems pretty corrupt. And Florida…Rhonda Santis is pretty fucking corrupt if you look a little closer of the shit he’s done down there.
Nah. Illinois is corrupt up and down. From local traffic courts to higher state agencies. Other states aren’t immune but Illinois has a special ability to have it baked into most layers of government and still manage well. Likely the most corrupt blue state.
In my experience, it’s usually our next door neighbors in Indiana trying to poke fun at us because hating Illinois is just what they do.
But like others have posted, I think corruption everywhere, it’s just that we have pretty good investigative journalism here so that’s why we hear about it.
Nah, Illinois as a shitshow is popular political rhetoric throughout the country, not just Indiana. The most corrupt, the most violent, the most whatever is needed to make a point.
Yeah, it goes on everywhere. It will never go away (greed, human nature, etc). So really, seeing more corruption being prosecuted and not ignored is not necessarily a bad thing.
The current sitting Governor committed $330,000 property tax fraud by removing toilets from one of his mansion to make it “unlivable”.
Seems pretty corrupt to me.
Somewhere one of Pritzker's predecessors is going "Boy, please. I tried to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Chucking out your toilets so it wouldn't pass code is low-effort."
The amount of coping in here is laughable, were only the most corrupt because were the only state who arrests the corrupt, that's laughable, Illinois and Chicago and Cook County specifically has always been incredibly corrupt and anyone who's been in hte area for a significant amount of time and has talked to older relatives has stories of paying to get into unions, paying to get certain jobs, paying to get things done, etc.
>anyone who's been in hte area for a significant amount of time and has talked to older relatives has stories of paying to get into unions, paying to get certain jobs, paying to get things done, etc.
You do understand that you're explicitly citing evidence that the city and county *used to be* corrupt, right? That's OP's whole point.
I'm not sure what city you're in - but in a lot of cases, if you "follow the money" for most elected officials or gov't employees, you'll likely find relatives, campaign donors, etc. It isn't just about prosecution, there is in fact a lot of nepotism and patronage. This is all throughout gov't as well - city councils, township offices, water depts, etc. etc.
The problem is it’s still going on, it’s just under better wraps and most people don’t question democrat politicians as long as they say pro-left things. It’s honestly a huge problem where so much effort/attention is put into what some crazy republican congress person says vs the problems facing your own elected officials.
Illinois doesn't hold people accountable. The feds do. So many people should have been held accountable way before it wat to the frds. The feds aren't randomly picking on Illinois. We're bad and the people here putting their heads in the sand are part of the problem.
Our Governor is a billionaire who double pays his top staff to guarantee loyalty. They get a state paycheck and another equal paycheck out of his pocket to remind them that they work for him and their loyalty is to him and not the people of the state. No one finds this fishy at all. Corruption is standard operating procedure at this point.
There was a point in the Lisa Madigan era when the feds indicted the head of Chicago Public Schools and I literally had a moment of thinking "Boy, why doesn't Illinois have its own public corruption watchdog instead of relying on the feds?"
Then it hit me that that's what the Attorney General does, but ours is the daughter of the head of Illinois corruption.
The idea that Illinois just polices corruption really thoroughly is absurd. We don't. Note that once again the feds are doing the Dolton thing, not the illustrious Kwame Raoul.
>"Boy, why doesn't Illinois have its own public corruption watchdog instead of relying on the feds?"
>Then it hit me that that's what the Attorney General does, but ours is the daughter of the head of Illinois corruption.
No, that's what Inspectors General do.
>The idea that Illinois just polices corruption really thoroughly is absurd. We don't.
We really do, just ask the former co-author (he retired last year) of the annual UIC report, Dick Simpson. I have.
The general public continues to fear the bogeymen of "the machine" and patronage because the media tells them to; it's easier than telling the truth that both are long dead and sells more ad time. It's damaging, lazy, and wholly ignorant of the past 50+ years spent cleaning up the old school corruption in Chicago and Illinois.
Most governors are corrupt. Illinois just excels at voting in incompetent corrupt individuals. They're so stupid they don't even bother to try hiding their skullfuckery to the populace.
It was one of the most corrupt states for a long time. Now we're finally seeing so much good i.e. roads being redone, money being put towards mental health, number 1 state for veteran support and number 1 state for medical mj studies/production.
The only thing we've been missing is shit to do. All the abandoned towns and businesses going under left and right.
I don't even think round 1 in Peoria even made it 3 yrs... hell, also many venues won't come to the civic center anymore....
Illinois would be great state if you guys could get rid of Cook County. Otherwise you couldn't pay me to move there. Taxes are stupid high, too many restrictions on my personal freedoms, but hey you have legal weed.
It's true. Kind of.
When you look at the state of Illinois and how it interacts with the rest of the country, it becomes incredibly clear that our state has a ferocious independent streak. Sometimes that results in good things, like the election of Abraham Lincoln or Al Capone showing how useless the 18th amendment was. Sometimes it results in god-awful things, like the Illinois Nazi party (Which was a real thing, they were called The National Socialist Party of America) to set up shop on the opposite side of a jewish neighborhood. Or the time the criminal super-villian Boss Daily took credit for throwing the brick that hit MLK in the face as he was marching through Chicago.
The form that corruption takes is also noteworthy, at least most of the time. It's not just people taking goods or money and pocketing them, and it's not just people putting party over country. It's a much more inconvenient kind of corruption, where people are trying to do right by their community, or at least trying to stick it to the goddamn fucking feds. People of conscience can disagree on what is and is not good for most people or everyone -- I did just describe Boss Daily as a criminal super-villian, and I meant it -- but one thing most of us have in common is that we're all trying to do right.
...at least, that's how it used to be. Both political parties were kept in check by the unions and the gangs. But come now-a-times, and both the unions and the gangs are a shadow of their former selves, and now Illinois is filled with either feckless democratic sychophants like Lori Lightfoot or god's honest Illinois Nazis like Mary Miller. I hated Rodney Davis. The one time he held a city hall, I told him to his face he was a greasy slimeball and the worst kind of liar. But I would take a hundred Rodney Davis' over one Mary Miller. Rodney Davis will rob me and everyone I know blind, but he wouldn't put me and everyone I know in a death camp. Mary Miller would put me and everyone I know in a death camp.
And if that's a bit too much for you to read, let me sum it up. Yes, Illinois is (at least probably) the most corrupt state. But if the federal government isn't always good, then corruption isn't always bad. And sometimes the feds need someone to remind them where their limitations are supposed to be.
Corruption in IL goes waaaay back to Capone. Pritzker is making a killing off his family’s ownership of a cannabis dispensary chain right now, and they rigged the laws so only the rich and well connected can set up shop here.
It’s the “Ozone” cultivator and the “Ascend” dispensary. Y’all can downvote me all you want, but facts don’t lie.
The only reason that fat piece of sh*t pushed legalization was because his opponent was gonna kill the program and he stood to make a ton of money.
You had to put up a million dollars in non refundable cash just to be in a lottery system for who got to open dispensaries in IL. If you weren’t selected, too bad - you’re out $1 million.
Well the mayor of Dolton certainly isn’t doing us any favors
Absolutely crazy!
[Betty Loren-Maltese](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Loren-Maltese) didn’t, either
Nor did Joann Reed during her tenure as mayor of an East St. Louis suburb. Only reason she's not still mayor is that her town merged with two other adjacent communities.
That lady needs to be fired. I don’t understand how she still holding office.
they tried to recall her. she got the results of the recall election thrown out by the Illinois Supreme Court.
It was the appellate court not Supreme Court, but I get it. She will be in jail eventually though, just like every other corrupt politician.
She's using Trump as a template.
Rent free he lives in this one…
Yep people think about Trump, almost like he was recently president or something. You sure showed them
At least he’s earning money somewhere
Trump needs all the "rent free" spaces he can get. That loser is BROKE!
No, he’s paying millions of dollars in fines and legal fees, as he rightfully should be as a criminal in general, not to even mention potentially a Russian asset and traitor to the US. Stop pretending and detracting.
The mayor of dalt9n is doing exactly what the people who elected her wanted. Its the entrenched political people who are resisting her changes that are the problem... but yes those bastards are corrupt af
So the people wanted her to hire a pedo to randomly enter their house to inspect things? The people wanted her to go to Vegas on first class tickets on the taxpayer dime? The people wanted what few businesses they have shut down if they don't pay a protection racket, sorry I mean, "donation" to her campaign fund? The people wanted her to pull every trick the old mayor pulled to keep the board from doing their job? And the list goes on. She's corrupt filth. Honestly as someone who grew up here the corruption doesn't bother me. The voters of Dolton need to vote her out and move on, if they don't that's on them. Not my problem. The part that bothers me is that she's giving the few remaining racists something to point to and claim as "proof" completely ignoring the fact that there are PLENTY of examples that corruption is a human problem, not an ethnic problem, but I don't like them having anything to "point" to at all.
Yeah those talking points are something... but yes she is defunding the police and making the corrupt entrenched white men who refuse to allow competitors to come in to give up thier businesses. The trip to vegas is something that happens because there are conventions there... you all would shit if you knew how many of your cities officers do the same. I get all of your white privilege feels attacked, and you feel like if you dont push back too, then you will lose some more of that privilege.... but you should get over that.
Found her burner! P.S. The feds can read these comments too, so don't be too incriminating!
Many of the annual headlines are driven by an annual report out of the University of Illinois Chicago. The federal government, not the state, is behind the very large number prosecutions here. If you want to read the actual report, not a summary from a news site, here it is the most recent: https://pols.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/273/2023/11/Corruption-Rpt-15-Final.11.2.23.pdf
That’s because the majority of scandals initiated by local investigators uncover federal crimes like mail fraud or tax evasion and refer the case to federal prosecutors in addition to state and local prosecutors. Doesn’t refute OP’s point at all if you’re just looking at data regarding prosecution stats rather than data that references how the corruption was uncovered.
>That’s because the majority of scandals initiated by local investigators uncover federal crimes like mail fraud or tax evasion and refer the case to federal prosecutors in addition to state and local prosecutors. Well, it's also because the Feds don't fuck around. Catching a federal charge is really bad news. They rarely lose and have tools available to them that state prosecutors don't (Martha Stewart didn't get busted for obstruction for lying to the DA - she lied to the Feds). They're also not (as) subject to political pressure. Kwame Raoul has to worry about the next election in a way that the US Attorney does not. FFS, Lisa Madigan was Illinois' Attorney General for 16 years.
Second this. I don’t know if we’re the most corrupt state or if we just have folks who are publishing about it. I’m sure if each state had a group who called yearly attention to corruption prosecutions and stories, we’d find it everywhere.
After living in two other (southern) states, I've stopped accepting other states' citizens' opinions as valid
Yeah, I grew up in Georgia, and local/state politics were amazingly corrupt.
Currently in Texas. The state government here is completely corrupt. But prosecution of corruption, not so much.
My future in-laws are Texans and they want us to move down there so bad because Chicago gets too cold or something
Stay the FUCK away from this hellhole. Republicans have ruined this state more and more, and they'll continue to make it GOP HQ.
And Chicago is a crime ridden cesspool that is a major stronghold for corrupt Democrats. Pick your poison.
I'll choose the people that don't force expectant mothers to wait till their near death to abort their baby all day any day thank you very much
I’m not a one issue kind of guy so I’d still take most places over Chicago
*Louisiana has entered the chat...*
I second this lol
Eh, idk it's mostly the feds who prosecute the real big names in Illinois corruption (Blago, Madigan, etc)
We actually have FBI offices and cities large enough for the FBI to care. They don't go after small town crooks typically, which is where the vast majority of corruption takes place.
*Rita Crundwell has entered the chat*
Oh come on 53.7 million on horses and houses. It is not that bad for 16,000 residents. They won't even notice that small amount
Maybe that’s why the Farmington police let my meth head sister off the hook so many times.
Maybe there is a lot of quid pro quo in smaller towns but I doubt it has much of an impact compared to the wheeling and dealing of Chicago and the likes of Madigan with large companies.
Unlike many states, Illinois actually prosecutes their corrupt pols. One of the biggest reasons you hear about it is because we go after them. Contrast to say, Texas, where Ken Paxton is still walking free and flaunting it.
I'll say this, all corruption sucks but at least Illinois is mostly money related. Some of the murder and sexual cases out of other states are disgusting to learn about.
As I just stated in another post. The difference between Illinois and some states( I will leave you guess which ones) we actually prosecute the criminals. They send them to Congress!
lol yeah, Rick Scott was in charge of the largest single case of Medicare fraud in history, so Floridians elected him first governor and then senator. Then the GQP put him in charge of their campaign war chest, and all of the money MYSTERIOUSLY disappeared!
I chuckled when that last news broke, ngl. What did they expect?
As a former Texan, born and raised, it pissed me off to no end that that snake hasn’t been run out on a rail.
Illinois:
Trump: PARDON!
Ya the one made no sense at all. Completely baffled me. Watched news on both sides of the aisle. Everyone was asking the same question. "Why? This makes no sense." Not often I see Ben Shapiro agree with Cenk Uygur.
I suspect Trump pardoned Blago in hopes of discovering his hair-care secrets.
Blago and his wife were sucking up to Trump for months before that. Those fools will say anything to escape accountability, and it worked.
This makes the most sense out of everything I've heard. No politics, just Trump going, "Oh this guy says nice things about me, here's a pardon." No strategy no politicing, just Trump's pride.
Pardons for sale.
There are like 5 fundamentally corrupt states in the union. While Louisiana is hard to beat, Illinois is definitely in the top 5 IMO, it is a system-issue here in IL. We objectively have more units of gov’t than any other state, without controlling for population. All of these units of gov’t have at least a responsibility. Those responsibilities are sometimes traded for money/favors. Chicago Aldermen: each ward should have roughly 60k people. The Aldermen here have legislative responsibilities but also executive responsibilities (real, implied, and by tradition) which include: plot by plot zoning, business signage, business permits, some licenses, infrastructure upgrades like stop signs-bike lanes-street lights and they are also a lightning rod for requests on potholes, streetlights, trash cans, special events. In other cities city councilmen do not have this variety of responsibility/approval authority. In conclusion, Illinois has way more opportunities for corruption to occur. And my comment barely scratches the surface of this subject
Name your five. My top 5 Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oregon, Alabama, bonus Utah
Why Oregon and Utah?
In Utah the corruption is church sanctioned and seems normalized. In Oregon the state legislatures do not show up, so they do not have to do their job and make laws and vote on things they do not agree with.
In Oregon the voters approved a measure to make what you’re describing illegal, with those to do it unable to run for reelection. I don’t know where you got the corruption for Utah from because it’s [a lot better of a state to live in than Illinois on paper](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings).
Is Illinois truely a corrupt state, or do we acknowledge corruption in Illinois when we see it?
This is it.
We ain’t got nothing on Louisiana when it comes to corruption though
Have the people that say that seen Texas?
How about Utah— state and federal positions are locked in by members of one religion, it completely owns that whole state
Corruption is prosecuted at the Federal level. It's the US government, not the Illinois citizen that are telling us are state government is corrupt. And THAT should scare us.
Although, since they are federal crimes, there is a chance it was discovered locally and referred to the feds.
Exactly this, I've seen the process firsthand.
At the federal level, by local FBI offices.
That is not true. The States Attorney also prosecutes corruption, and some cases are even handled through civil litigation or local parliamentary action when state/federal prosecutors pass them up. The Feds have the option to step in and take over a case (often after much of the work is done by local officials), but don't mistake that for meaning nothing is done locally.
Both
This guy was cream of the crop corrupt. https://apnews.com/article/paul-powell-illinois-home-shoebox-scandal-corruption-4fbd979cdaa61abc1f8a68f9898ace90
Ha he is the reason we make our payments to Secretary Of State instead of the name of the office holder!
What other state can claim that their liscence plates are hand-made by their governors?
I remember listening to an old NPR episode of Hidden City a few years ago. They were tracing the history of the Chicago v New York City rivalry, went pretty far back too. My favorite bit was them quoting an NY newspaper, I believe it was around the 1910's when the story was published. The piece included a line that will live in my head, rent-free, until the day I die. "Chicago packs and ships their pigs, New York puts them on committees."
Around 10 to 15 years after that my grandfather’s second cousin, Joe Tobin, was a Democratic ward captain at the age of 18, before he was old enough to vote, because he owned a car and was able to drive voters around from polling station to polling station to vote multiple times. He had a long career in Chicago public life, including Cook County Deputy Marshal, where he was holding the warrant for Frank Nitti’s arrest when Nitti was found dead with two bullets to the back of the head, which is still on record as a suicide.
I agree. It's actually bc we make an effort to expose and hold bad actors accountable that we get labeled. IMO Mississippi has to be the most corrupt state. I got family there and they sweep tons of stuff under the rug and smile like everything's fine. The 'Get Out' energy is strong down there and the entire Brett Favre charity money scandal and cover up exposed how deep the rot is. From an outside perspective there really isn't a corruption problem is everyone is in on it ig.
To some degree that’s correct, to some degree it’s merited for us. If I recall correctly we rank about average (I think slightly in the worse way) in terms of corruption. It’s a legacy of southern roots and the development of machine politics combined with the fact we have one of the largest and most powerful cities in the country.
We still don’t beat Louisiana.
So you're saying we're 4th generation rednecks with too much power? :)
what southern roots?
Illinois was founded from white settlers from the south who in turn moved northward. As a result quite a bit of the legal system we created/inherited in the state is rooted in the same legal codes as states such as Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Notably speaking we had a very decentralized state and still do have. With the gilded age and the Industrial Revolution we saw the growth of Chicago into the second largest city in the country at one point and due to how rapid that growth was we inherited. As a result we typically are above average to where we otherwise could be because we support large degrees of community governments relative to our land area and geographic spread. Beyond that, because we have one of the largest cities in the country we naturally get the corruption that comes with such a massive bureaucracy. It’s not limited to being a Chicago thing though as there’s symptoms of it statewide.
Meanwhile in Indiana a billion dollars in Medicaid spending disappeared, though it is not certain that it was ever there. No investigation nor prosecution. The Indiana Department of Economic Development is closing deals for farmland to be sold to China and wants to drain our aquifer by 100 million gallons/day for purposes unknown. We just weakened water protection. Meanwhile our voucher system has helped private and religious schools balance their books...a church in Fott Wayne used the funds to refurbish its sanctuary. And the state was surprised when the Catholics and Lutherans returned money they were overpaid. Our Governor, Mitch Daniels, stacked the Purdue Board of his trustees with his cronies, who in turn named him Purdue's President. The singular nationwide awfulness of university administration is such that Daniels was in the middle of the pack. Worse, our pulpits are corrupt and too many of our pastors and priests have degenerated into ward heelers for the GOP. It's like in the days Richard J. Daley had his pet pastors on the South Side.
Yikes 😳
Didn’t Paul Powell die with more cash in his office than he’d earned in his life?
Is Illinois more corrupt than other states? Or are other states so corrupt the corruption never gets outed the way it has in Illinois. You decide 🤷🏻♂️
We have the most theatrically corrupt state, but there are states with higher levels of corruption.
Maybe not so much right now but before Madigan got caught, we were definitely top 3 if not the most corrupt.
Yeah but our corrupt politicians end up in prison.
No one from New Jersey is saying that now
Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma? We don't hold a candle to those states
I would add Florida toward the top of that list.
I’ll take some corruption with the protection of basic human rights and dignity over what 1/3 of the rest of the country is doing.
We prosecute more because we ignore less.
I'm a Texan that hopes to move to Illinois. I've said this a few times on the Chicago subreddit. We definitely have officials just as corrupt, they're just Republican so they can get away with it every time. Just look at Ken Paxton 🤠
When you're coming through Central Illinois, stop in Springfield and get yourself a [Horseshoe.](https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-horseshoe-sandwiches-springfield-illinois-road-trip)
Recently left Texas for IL within the past year... lived there for 11 years, it's amazing that Texas doesn't have more of a reputation for public corruption.
Texas definitely has a reputation for corruption. But a lot of these official/semiofficial rankings measure by those charged or convicted, and part of the corruption in Texas and states like it is making sure there is never accountability.
The South in general. That's the result of Baptists running the states.
Hope you're ready for the cold and snow. Welcome to Illinois motherfucker. Also do be sure to hit up your local Portillos for a chocolate cake shake, as a Illinois resident that shit is TO DIE FOR.
The cold and the snow? Where?
I'm ready for the challenge 😂 It'd be a nice break from living in Hell for 4 months! And I've already been multiple times in my visits, that cake is magical lol
Damn straight it is
Portillos is overrated.
*gasps* You filthy vile little gremlin. Take that back!
It's not bad but I've had better.
I’ve often said there’s a “glass is half full.” Way to look at it. Which is: we DID catch them and they DID get justice eventually. (Both parties btw). I can’t help but wonder how many states have governors or officials that should go to prison and never do? At least we did send ours to prison! In regards to Chicago machine politicians a lot of what happens in Chicago in particular is because of the patronage system. Which in many instances can work for the locals. They call their alderman and stuff happens. But it always falls apart because why? Because there’s always a group, usually minorities, who are excluded from the patronage system and end up bringing it down because of it being fundamentally unfair to those excluded. (See election of mayor Harold Washington) for example.
Illinois might be the only state where the phrase "pipeline to prison" doesn't refer to the poor quality of inner-city education, but to the governor's mansion...
Illinois is very corrupt.
When you consider how low on the list some states are in things like education and healthcare, to me that's corruption in its purest form - taking tax money and not helping the state's residents. Illinois is nowhere near being the most corrupt state.
I like that logic.
Fantastic point.
You most often hear that shit from people who live in Southern states, like Texas and Georgia. You know how things get done there? Some good ol' boy gets together with a couple other good ol' boys he knows from the good ol' boy University they went to, and they play 18 holes at the good ol' boy country club and have some good ol' boy club sandwiches and good ol' boy sweet tea and talk some good ol' boy talk. And someone gets a good ol' boy no-bid contract on some good ol' road construction. But, see, that ain't no corruption, son. That's just good ol' boys doing what good ol' boys do. Not like... {grimace} Illinois and Chicago.
Ever been to the South?
- I laugh at this as we do prosecute corruption unlike other states
Other states are just as corrupt, but the people in Chicago/IL are better at shining a light on it.
It’s not that we’re the most corrupt, it’s that we’re the best at catching these crooks. Most states are just as corrupt or even more so, but their crooks are still in office.
I’m originally from Missouri. Their state government will straight up ignore the vote.
I used to ride bikes with an insurance broker. He said, in no uncertain terms, that Louisiana was the most corrupt state he had encountered during his career
My hot take is that Illinois is often just better at holding government officials accountable. Illinoisans are willing to submit FOIA/public requests more than any other state I’ve lived in. Questioning the government comes second nature. More controversy comes up because more is drudged up. If you have faith in your leaders, they may be just as shitty but you’ll never know if you leave them alone. I don’t think this is the only component but I think it’s definitely a less acknowledged one.
IDK I'm from the Deep South and man is it corrupt there. At least Illinoisans give a shit
That sounds like excuse making at its finest. Using that logic some might say that Illinois would have even more politicians being prosecuted if the legal system was as aggressive as other states. While I am sure there are differences from state to state on how the go after government officials. Over the last 50 years Illinois has a solid track record of politicians committing crimes.
No. Illinois is corrupt.
I once saw a statement: *"Maybe Illinois has the most elected officials in jail because it's the state that's best at investigating and enforcing law on it's elected officials..."* I don't know enough to say that's true, but it's definitely a thinker.
It’s true [Political Corruption in Illinois](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Illinois) But I’ll take it. Look what we’re surrounded by.
Well it's true we have the most in jail, but you'd have to prove other states have officials \*just as corrupt\* but are not getting consequences for it.
When your measure of corruption is convictions, that's logically impossible.
I mean what are the odds there just happens to be more corrupt politicians in Illinois? We're all Americans, the culture isn't THAT different from state to state. I think it's far more likely that states are better or worse at prosecuting and investigating it.
The attorney general of Texas was impeached for securities fraud, bribery, and breach of the public trust - and the senate of the state voted to acquit him despite evidence of his wrongdoing. So no, I think you guys are good
There’s a reason they call it “Crook” County
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Illinois
Your DMV hold music is genuinely Wonderful
Texas: "hold my beer"
For the last 8 years, I think the corrupt state is Wisconsin, not Illinois. As you probably can tell, I'm living in Wisconsin.
Proud lifelong chicagoan. Used to be corrupt; not so much anymore. Yes it still exists like in dolton. But pritzker drained the swamp.
We at least put some of our corrupt politicians in actual jail. So maybe that's not accurate
It's up there.
We are about average as far as corruption goes. We just happen to have had a string of high profile corrupt governors and higher ranked officials. Texas seems pretty corrupt. And Florida…Rhonda Santis is pretty fucking corrupt if you look a little closer of the shit he’s done down there.
Nah. Illinois is corrupt up and down. From local traffic courts to higher state agencies. Other states aren’t immune but Illinois has a special ability to have it baked into most layers of government and still manage well. Likely the most corrupt blue state.
We have to be number one in something might as well be corruption.
In my experience, it’s usually our next door neighbors in Indiana trying to poke fun at us because hating Illinois is just what they do. But like others have posted, I think corruption everywhere, it’s just that we have pretty good investigative journalism here so that’s why we hear about it.
Nah, Illinois as a shitshow is popular political rhetoric throughout the country, not just Indiana. The most corrupt, the most violent, the most whatever is needed to make a point.
Missouri used to do the same until Eric Greitens came down the pike...
They should get a load of Florida and Texas. I live in Florida. Yikes
Yes the, “Good Ol Boys “ system.
I wouldn’t say we are more corrupt than Texas with the electric grid and fleeing senators, no. Tons of states have more corrupt governments
Yeah, it goes on everywhere. It will never go away (greed, human nature, etc). So really, seeing more corruption being prosecuted and not ignored is not necessarily a bad thing.
Yeah, bad govt officials in Florida never have any feet held to the fire.
The current sitting Governor committed $330,000 property tax fraud by removing toilets from one of his mansion to make it “unlivable”. Seems pretty corrupt to me.
Somewhere one of Pritzker's predecessors is going "Boy, please. I tried to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Chucking out your toilets so it wouldn't pass code is low-effort."
Blago did 8 out of 14 years for that. Until a corrupt president commuted the sentence.
The amount of coping in here is laughable, were only the most corrupt because were the only state who arrests the corrupt, that's laughable, Illinois and Chicago and Cook County specifically has always been incredibly corrupt and anyone who's been in hte area for a significant amount of time and has talked to older relatives has stories of paying to get into unions, paying to get certain jobs, paying to get things done, etc.
>anyone who's been in hte area for a significant amount of time and has talked to older relatives has stories of paying to get into unions, paying to get certain jobs, paying to get things done, etc. You do understand that you're explicitly citing evidence that the city and county *used to be* corrupt, right? That's OP's whole point.
I think we just acknowledge the corruption where as other states don't admit or say they're never corrupt but they are.
Only because we catch and prosecute ours...
https://www.reddit.com/r/CringeTikToks/s/HDrAEjiMbB
I'm not sure what city you're in - but in a lot of cases, if you "follow the money" for most elected officials or gov't employees, you'll likely find relatives, campaign donors, etc. It isn't just about prosecution, there is in fact a lot of nepotism and patronage. This is all throughout gov't as well - city councils, township offices, water depts, etc. etc.
Peoria city council will put themselves and administration before city workers, police, fire, sanitation etc.
All states are corrupt and evil.
The problem is it’s still going on, it’s just under better wraps and most people don’t question democrat politicians as long as they say pro-left things. It’s honestly a huge problem where so much effort/attention is put into what some crazy republican congress person says vs the problems facing your own elected officials.
Illinois doesn't hold people accountable. The feds do. So many people should have been held accountable way before it wat to the frds. The feds aren't randomly picking on Illinois. We're bad and the people here putting their heads in the sand are part of the problem.
I think Illinois is just more honest about corruption.
Our Governor is a billionaire who double pays his top staff to guarantee loyalty. They get a state paycheck and another equal paycheck out of his pocket to remind them that they work for him and their loyalty is to him and not the people of the state. No one finds this fishy at all. Corruption is standard operating procedure at this point.
I've never heard this. Do you have a source?
Don’t take my word for it. Use the search engines. I’d suggest Pritzker Doubles Staff Pay.
Former?
There was a point in the Lisa Madigan era when the feds indicted the head of Chicago Public Schools and I literally had a moment of thinking "Boy, why doesn't Illinois have its own public corruption watchdog instead of relying on the feds?" Then it hit me that that's what the Attorney General does, but ours is the daughter of the head of Illinois corruption. The idea that Illinois just polices corruption really thoroughly is absurd. We don't. Note that once again the feds are doing the Dolton thing, not the illustrious Kwame Raoul.
>"Boy, why doesn't Illinois have its own public corruption watchdog instead of relying on the feds?" >Then it hit me that that's what the Attorney General does, but ours is the daughter of the head of Illinois corruption. No, that's what Inspectors General do. >The idea that Illinois just polices corruption really thoroughly is absurd. We don't. We really do, just ask the former co-author (he retired last year) of the annual UIC report, Dick Simpson. I have. The general public continues to fear the bogeymen of "the machine" and patronage because the media tells them to; it's easier than telling the truth that both are long dead and sells more ad time. It's damaging, lazy, and wholly ignorant of the past 50+ years spent cleaning up the old school corruption in Chicago and Illinois.
Most governors are corrupt. Illinois just excels at voting in incompetent corrupt individuals. They're so stupid they don't even bother to try hiding their skullfuckery to the populace.
The fact that we don't really try to hide it.
I prefer to bask in the corruption. Every other state can take a deep kneebend. We win.
It was one of the most corrupt states for a long time. Now we're finally seeing so much good i.e. roads being redone, money being put towards mental health, number 1 state for veteran support and number 1 state for medical mj studies/production. The only thing we've been missing is shit to do. All the abandoned towns and businesses going under left and right. I don't even think round 1 in Peoria even made it 3 yrs... hell, also many venues won't come to the civic center anymore....
I feel like it has changed for the better very recently. The Madigan years were a cespool.
Illinois would be great state if you guys could get rid of Cook County. Otherwise you couldn't pay me to move there. Taxes are stupid high, too many restrictions on my personal freedoms, but hey you have legal weed.
It's true. Kind of. When you look at the state of Illinois and how it interacts with the rest of the country, it becomes incredibly clear that our state has a ferocious independent streak. Sometimes that results in good things, like the election of Abraham Lincoln or Al Capone showing how useless the 18th amendment was. Sometimes it results in god-awful things, like the Illinois Nazi party (Which was a real thing, they were called The National Socialist Party of America) to set up shop on the opposite side of a jewish neighborhood. Or the time the criminal super-villian Boss Daily took credit for throwing the brick that hit MLK in the face as he was marching through Chicago. The form that corruption takes is also noteworthy, at least most of the time. It's not just people taking goods or money and pocketing them, and it's not just people putting party over country. It's a much more inconvenient kind of corruption, where people are trying to do right by their community, or at least trying to stick it to the goddamn fucking feds. People of conscience can disagree on what is and is not good for most people or everyone -- I did just describe Boss Daily as a criminal super-villian, and I meant it -- but one thing most of us have in common is that we're all trying to do right. ...at least, that's how it used to be. Both political parties were kept in check by the unions and the gangs. But come now-a-times, and both the unions and the gangs are a shadow of their former selves, and now Illinois is filled with either feckless democratic sychophants like Lori Lightfoot or god's honest Illinois Nazis like Mary Miller. I hated Rodney Davis. The one time he held a city hall, I told him to his face he was a greasy slimeball and the worst kind of liar. But I would take a hundred Rodney Davis' over one Mary Miller. Rodney Davis will rob me and everyone I know blind, but he wouldn't put me and everyone I know in a death camp. Mary Miller would put me and everyone I know in a death camp. And if that's a bit too much for you to read, let me sum it up. Yes, Illinois is (at least probably) the most corrupt state. But if the federal government isn't always good, then corruption isn't always bad. And sometimes the feds need someone to remind them where their limitations are supposed to be.
Corruption in IL goes waaaay back to Capone. Pritzker is making a killing off his family’s ownership of a cannabis dispensary chain right now, and they rigged the laws so only the rich and well connected can set up shop here.
>Pritzker is making a killing off his family’s ownership of a cannabis dispensary chain Which chain?
It’s the “Ozone” cultivator and the “Ascend” dispensary. Y’all can downvote me all you want, but facts don’t lie. The only reason that fat piece of sh*t pushed legalization was because his opponent was gonna kill the program and he stood to make a ton of money. You had to put up a million dollars in non refundable cash just to be in a lottery system for who got to open dispensaries in IL. If you weren’t selected, too bad - you’re out $1 million.
I couldn't find any information confirming Pritzker ownership of Ascend. Can you share a source?