Top 10 most corrupt states, according to Yahoo news

[cjk374]

Thank you Mississippi for saving Louisiana's bacon from being at the top once again!   

https://homes.yahoo.com/photos/gallery-america-s-most-corrupt-states-1407469336-slideshow/

Do you agree with the findings?  What I wanna know is...where is California????   

[hotdogPi]

It seems like they (correctly) avoided cases where a single city was corrupt, but not the rest of the state.

Many other studies would have done it differently.

[cpzilliacus]

The District of Columbia is not a state, but it has plenty of municipal government corruption.

[hbelkins]

If this is the story that made the rounds a few weeks ago, they're basing their conclusions on the number of public officials convicted of official misconduct-related crimes. Kentucky's had a number of local officials get in trouble for vote-buying in recent years (and they say there isn't an election fraud problem) so that skewed its numbers higher.

[freebrickproductions]

Not surprised about Alabama.

[Duke87]

This doesn't give a complete picture, then, if the focus is specifically on public officials being complicit in corruption. New York may not have a lot of this but it certainly has plenty of ordinary citizens intentionally gaming the system and trying to see what they can get away with. Which has the same net effect: that it's a place where you get ahead by being dishonest.

Like many things in New York, though, it isn't statewide. Downstate this is a way of life, everyone is dishonest when it benefits them to be and when others allow them to be, and that's just how it us. Upstate, meanwhile, some people still do business via handshake.

I suppose this is distinct from corruption though in that it is cultural more than it is institutional. Still, it can be institutional in the sense that there is a lack of enforcement. There are many forms of blatant rule breaking that the authorities are well aware of but still do nothing about.

[vdeane]

It can also become institutional if it spreads to the government workers, as in NY.  The workplace politics are incredibly vicious in every state agency  I've even met someone who transferred from a desk job in Region 2 to a bridge inspection job in Region 1 to escape the office politics.  Once you get to management, ALL promotional decisions are political in nature, and people use "profiles" (the name periodically changes and people wise up) to basically make the civil service test results meaningless.  The union isn't immune from this either.  There are quite a few bribes involved in union politics.

[Brandon]

It's flawed.  Illinois is by far and away far more corrupt than Mississippi.  Note to all, if it's from Chicago, politically, never trust it.  Chicago is hard turd at the bottom of the septic tank of dirty politics clogging the drain.

Michigan politics look like a sterilized hospital room (even with Kwame) by comparison.

[hotdogPi]

It's flawed.  Illinois is by far and away far more corrupt than Mississippi.  Note to all, if it's from Chicago, politically, never trust it.  Chicago is hard turd at the bottom of the septic tank of dirty politics clogging the drain.

Michigan politics look like a sterilized hospital room (even with Kwame) by comparison.

Is all of Illinois corrupt, or just Chicago and its suburbs?

[mukade]

It's flawed.  Illinois is by far and away far more corrupt than Mississippi.  Note to all, if it's from Chicago, politically, never trust it.  Chicago is hard turd at the bottom of the septic tank of dirty politics clogging the drain.

Michigan politics look like a sterilized hospital room (even with Kwame) by comparison.

Is all of Illinois corrupt, or just Chicago and its suburbs?

I would say Chicago and Cook County account for most of it, and most of downstate Illinois is pretty disgusted with it. People just laughed at Chicago corruption, but the state is now in very dire straits. It isn't funny at all.

As for the poll, these often seem sloppy and subjective. In this particular one, is this right?

8: South Dakota. Admit it, you're surprised. But the state is aflutter in an oil and gas boom, and that sets the stage for a lot of bribery.

Does South Dakota have an oil boom? Isn't that North Dakota and the Bakken field which extends into Montana? SD produces around 1.6 M barrels of oil a year, but that isn't a boom in my book. I think they mixed up their states.

[bing101]

I'm shocked that New Jersey is not on the list or my state of California.  Remember Bell scandal in 2010 and 2013-2014 FBI raids in Downtown Sacramento involving 3 state senators all separate cases. This is where wing nuts planned to split the state in 6 parts.

[vdeane]

In Albany, NY, we might be getting a museum of corruption.  Our latest example is Cuomo dismantling an ethics committee because it was starting to investigate him.

[kkt]

If it's just about convictions it doesn't have much value.  In a really corrupt state the perpetrators can avoid a conviction any number of ways.

[cpzilliacus]

In Albany, NY, we might be getting a museum of corruption.  Our latest example is Cuomo dismantling an ethics committee because it was starting to investigate him.

Didn't the U.S. Department of Justice, in the form of the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, suddenly and recently take an interest in this subject?

[The Nature Boy]

Remember: To make this list, your politicians have to be caught.

The truly corrupt don't get caught.

[cpzilliacus]

If it's just about convictions it doesn't have much value.  In a really corrupt state the perpetrators can avoid a conviction any number of ways.

That is one of the reasons we have federal law enforcement and the federal court system.

[DeaconG]

Remember: To make this list, your politicians have to be caught.

The truly corrupt don't get caught.

No, in Florida they get elected governor.  I remember when he ran and I knew he'd been busted for Medicare fraud years back...and they voted him in anyway.

[cjk374]

Remember: To make this list, your politicians have to be caught.

The truly corrupt don't get caught.

No, in Florida they get elected governor.  I remember when he ran and I knew he'd been busted for Medicare fraud years back...and they voted him in anyway.

Same with Edwin Edwards here in Louisiana.  He was a known gambler (using state funds), a known womanizer (seriously more frowned upon then compared to now) and he was elected a record 5 times!   

[kkt]

Womanizing in theory might have been more frowned upon, but in practice it was almost always hushed up.  Almost nobody knew about JFK until well after his death.  Almost nobody knew about Ike's mistress until 40 years after his presidency.  If the spouse didn't want a divorce, the press saw it as nobody else's business.

[Billy F 1988]

I wouldn't be surprised if Montana was on that list. My goodness. This very state I live in is beginning to fall backwards. It's not just political corruption going on. It's corruption, period. People are getting effed up the arsecrack for stupid stuff. I'm just embarassed to call myself a "Missoulian" because we have great people but not enough common sense within them.

Let me tell you one good example. I was with a group that was based on disabilities called Summit. It didn't take long for me to realize how far it tanked. Here's why. Instead of being for the disabled, they put the disabled to shame...(and here's the kicker)...by protesting at Goodwill, one week after it opened at the old Montana Army National Guard armory at Fort Missoula. If that isn't corruption for 'ya, you haven't seen what Montana goes through. Though, I think corco knows since both of us are in Montana, and quite honestly, we're not that far apart between hometowns.

[pctech]

We need to work to get back on top!  Political patronage is the defacto operation of the government in this state. (La.) It's a 'pay to play" system, just like most places. It's an art here!

[sbeaver44]

I see Pennsylvania made this list at #5.  Recently one of our state representatives cited a study where we were #5 or #6.  In his quote, he mentioned that if we could get to "an average level of corruption" we could save something like $13,000 (!!!) per taxpayer.  (This seems high)

What exactly is... an average level of corruption?  Is that an "acceptable" level of corruption?

[formulanone]

I think compiling a list like this is akin to assembling "top ten beautiful sunsets" or "top ten phoniest politicians"...probably 98% of the available entries would qualify on any given day.

[bing101]

How about Rick Perry Governor of Texas he has been charged with corruption recently by  the State of Texas and possibly the feds for allegedly abusing his power? But these players surrounding Perry need to be tried in Federal court to determine the evidence against him.

[hbelkins]

That indictment against Perry is total BS. The governor has a constitutional authority to veto any legislation he sees fit.