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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 24, 2007 What, in your opinion, is the most corrupt institution in Illinois? It doesn’t have to be a political or governmental entity, either. Explain, but try to leave personal names out of it, please. Thanks.
- Posted by Rich Miller
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- Ravenswood Right Winger - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:22 am:
The Chicago Blackhawks or-gan-I-zation.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:25 am:
the Health Facilties Planning Board
- Reddbyrd - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:26 am:
Catholic Church
- BlueByrd - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:30 am:
The General Assembly, hands down.
- Crook County - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:38 am:
So hard to pick among the many fine examples of Cook County corruption, but let’s go with the Cook County Board of Review. Hundreds of thousands of dollars contributed by attorneys and law firms to elect the members of this board, who then hear property tax (corporate) cases argued by these attorneys. Just a little conflicted, aint it?
ps - One of the members may want to be the States Attorney? Interesting.
- Garp - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:40 am:
The court system jury selection process-Anyone who knows someone doesn’t have to go.
Police officers letting fellow officers get away with DUI’s.
- Justice - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:40 am:
Churches….by far. They are simply big business selling God. It appears to me to be more about big box churches with stained glass than faith and helping others. It is the epitome of money machines and brings in more money than any other enterprise, including gambling, and all tax free with questionable accountability. Come see us at least once a week, pay us 10% or you’re going to hell. Anyway, hells closed and has temporarily opened shop in the Illinois legislature….and I have a mug and T-shirt to prove it!
- Larry Mullholland - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:42 am:
The Governor’s operation both political and campaign, seems to get top billing in my book.
Your posts about the money spent on legal fees while very significant, pale in comparison to the legal fees by state agencies & the gov’s office both contract and staff lawyers who often are sent out to defend a poor policy that follows a blago press conference (read Razzle Dazzle)
I would suggest is is over $100 million after five years. The Gov spent over a million in legal, staff & contract, to fire the first 25 employees on his first day in office. Beyond employee suits, there are many more cases dealing with contract fraud- AG, CMS, IDOT, Lottery….and the list goes on
- Latham Place - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:44 am:
You’re right on the money, Justice!!! I am Catholic and have a hard time listening to the church preach about how broke they are, but yet they still find money for remodeling projects within the church. It should be about faith and helping others like you said, NOT about having the prettiest church.
- Captain America - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 10:53 am:
I’m not an anti-government zealot or a “goo-goo” liberal. Politics and government are inevitably a messy game. Sometimes it hard to distinguish between incompetence and dishonesty.
With apologies to the many honest/ethical, and dedicated/conscientious elected/public officals and civil servants, I think political corruption permeates all our instituions and all levals/branches of government in Illinois. It’s hard to pick just one institution. Corruption is a cancer on our body politic.
I’ll be very interested to read everone’s nominations for the most corrupt entity. I don’t see much evidence that our non-governmental institutions in the private sector are much better than the public sector. The really large- scale thieves appear to be operating in the upper echelon of the corporate sector (e.g., Conrad Black)
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:09 am:
Petrol industry and utility companies are at the top of the private sector heap, in addition to Mr. Blagojevich in politics. Actually, the higher ups in a lot of private corporations are getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar lately and doing prison time. Not much incentive for John Q. Public to aspire to anything other than being the company clerk. Blago and a whole lot of other politicians, whether directly elected or political appointees, seem to be incapable of learning any lessons from Fitzgerald vs. GRyan.
- RAI - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:10 am:
Over the past 70 years it is The Cook County Democratic Party Hands down!
- pickles!! - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:14 am:
A tie between Chicago City Hall and the Office of the Governor
- keepin up with the jones - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:16 am:
The private financing of campaigns have pretty well put a for sale sign on Illinois Government.
The cost of campaigns causing candidates to sell their soules to speaker,senate president, or whoever.
Look at the electric rate reform average of $20/month per household. That’s help for the poor,seniors,or anyone. The rates go up more in downstate. That’s a sale out.
- jaundiced eye - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:20 am:
There’s such a rich assortment at every level of government that it’s hard to choose. Central Management Services, license services in the SOS office, tollway authority … forest preserves and healthcare system at the county level … Streets & San and buildings/permits at the city level. The list could go on forever. Rich, how about a question about the most (potentially) corrupt opportunities in terms of board and commission appointments?
- Sacks Romana - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:21 am:
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, hands down.
I grew up in Illinois my whole life. A few years back I was in California. My friend remarked something to the effect, “This highway used to be a tollway.” I was utterly baffled. The idea that you take the tollbooths down after the road has been paid for never even ocurred to me.
The revenue from the Tollway never goes where we think or want it to go. They’ve been stealing our money for years and years, long before open road tolling (ROD R BLAGOJEVICH, GOVERNOR) allowed them to do it at 55 mph.
- fedup dem - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:27 am:
Unfortunately, I do not have a month available to ponder this question in sufficent detail to determine who is the worst among equals in this state.
- Javier Torres - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:27 am:
the Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO)
followed by the 11th Ward Regular Democratic Organization
followed by the 19th Ward Regular Democratic Organization
- Ferdy - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:40 am:
Cook County Democratic Organization
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:47 am:
The police, specifically in Chicago, but also in many suburbs. Why do you think those poker machines stay in the bars even when the police come there to break up a fight and maybe even witness someone taking their payoff? Why is it when a video camera catches an officer using excessive or inappropriate force, when other officers who were present are questioned they “didn’t see nothing”? Why is it some erratic drivers are tested and written up for DUI while others aren’t? Why is it some neighborhoods have cops who arrive within a few minutes of a call and others must wait 20 minutes?
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:48 am:
The failure here isn’t the corruption within an institution. It is the personal corruption within your own life.
What I learned from my German friends is that Germans are willing to suffer the indignity of servitude to German bureaucracy, in exchange for the ability to blame someone else for their personal problems.
Sloughing off the decisions we are unwilling to make onto government institutions make them responsible and frees us up to hate them when they inevitably fail.
So I ask you, while you are wailing over institutional corruption, why did you empower them and continue to empower them in the face of their corruption?
This is a democracy, right? Act like a citizen and change it.
- Underdog - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:53 am:
I think we are going to need Oscar-like categories or possibly some NCAA basketball style playoff for this question of the day.
With deference to the many fine choices listed so far, I think the winners (Cook County suburban division) would have to be the Harvey and Melrose Park governments for their skill in turning their police departments into criminal enterprises. Runners up - Dolton, Cicero, and any town where disbarred attorney Anthony Bruno has a “consulting” contract.
- bored now - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 11:57 am:
all i can say is that illinois is a target-rich environment. who can choose?
- If It Walks Like a Duck... - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:07 pm:
What John Kass of the Tribune refers to as “The Combine” (i.e., the demo-republican back slapping cabal.)
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:09 pm:
Kakakee City Council.
- Anderson - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:11 pm:
The right wing of the Illinois Republican Party. They talk about the “nanny state” and stress the need to get government off our backs, yet they want the government to tell women what to do with their bodies and who should and shouldn’t marry.
Also, the far right holds a double standard when it comes to life…they’re militant on abortion and equally militant on the US sending young men to die without batting an eye.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:28 pm:
The most corrupt institutions are invariably the ones nobody ever rights about.
Yes, there are imperfect people in many organizations - public, private and non-profit - but you can’t blame an entire institution for a few bad apples, except to the degree that those bad apples are coddled.
It’s easy to poke the Catholic Church, but anyone who knows church history can tell you they’ve come along way.
It’s not wrong to call corruption a cancer on the body politic. Anyone who thinks that Cook County is the only county where things are hinky needs to take off their blinders. Some level of corruption is occurring everywhere, and I assure you its not limited to one party.
Has everyone forgotten the sweetheart pleas that Joe Birkett’s office was dealing out to friendly defense lawyers in DUI cases? Is anyone else naive enough to believe that kind of thing is only happening in DuPage County?
The question is, if there is a cancer on the body politic, do you blame the patient or the cancer?
- I.D.O.T. Bleachers - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:30 pm:
Blagojevich’s patronage army - An institution unto itself.
Extremely overpaid/arrogant/stupid/un-qualified mess.
- electric boogaloo - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:34 pm:
The Illinois Commerce Commission should be in the running, but the other comments have made me re-think my entry.
- Henry - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 12:46 pm:
AFSCME Council 31
- Downstate weed chewing hick - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:08 pm:
With so many to choose from, the worst of the bunch has to be the one with the biggest effect on the public, and the best at hiding their evil power. Hands down that is the Health Facilities Planning Board.
- Capitalist Pig - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:15 pm:
I agree that corruption is rampant both upstate and downstate, in both parties, along many private and public enterprises. But, I’ll bet that with 70% or so of the population, the Chicago area takes up 95% or so of the corruption dollars changing hands. 1) The Chicago Machine (basically anything Daley can touch including unions) 1a)The state Republican party. I know that is a pretty broad stroke, but let’s face it, this is IL the 2nd home of corruption.
- Belle - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:34 pm:
Nobody has mentioned the power companies Ameren, ComEd, Excelon…can anyone come up with an entity that has spent more to influence politics in the last 10 years? (outside of churches that is) In fact, I would like to see an article with how much they gave and to whom they gave it detailed over the last 10 years.
- C-Cup - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:36 pm:
So we can completely bash the Catholic church around here, but you mention the Jewish community and it gets deleted in 2 minutes? What gives Rich?
- GLT - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:44 pm:
The Illinois Worker’s Compensation Commission. In 2006, the Worker’s Compensation Reform Act was implemented, serving to further solidify the administration’s war on the business community of Illinois. As a result of the reforms, initiated by management at the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Commission and shepherded by the Governor’s floor leader in the House, worker’s compensation costs in Illinois have significantly increased, causing some businesses to relocate and others to locate elsewhere. The promise of employer savings has proven to be nothing more than an unfortunate hoax.
Further, the reforms provide cover for the increasingly egregious decisions handed down by the Commission’s arbitrators. Clearly, the arbitrators and employee’s attorneys enjoy relationships that can only be characterized as unhealthy for the business community, at best, and corrupt,at worst. For just one small bit of evidence, I would encourage the solicitation of decisions from the Work Comp Commission worthy of nothing more than induction into a growing “Hall of Shame”. For starters, try Barham vs the Illinois Department of Corrections.
- Tamika - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:50 pm:
the U.S Department of Justice
- Jerry - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 1:50 pm:
Keeping it simple. The two political parties as a whole. There are exceptions within both parties, but they are seriously sickeningly corrupt as a whole.
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:04 pm:
I think the incestuous relationship between Proviso Township High Schools (District 209), the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, District 88, District 89, the Villages of Melrose Park & Stone Park and the various law firms has to be on the short list of corrupt institutions in Illinois.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:21 pm:
Winston and Strawn - Sorling Law Offices
- OAP - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:22 pm:
The Department of Defense/Veterans Administration
- From Meigs Field - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:44 pm:
Sure doesn’t look like Rod Blagojevich has cleaned up anything from these posts.
Ethics - Incredibly, the administration is still ducking this one. Passing HB1, which would end ‘pay-to-play’ politics, passed the House unanimously, and has 45 Senate sponsors, should be a no-brainer. Instead, the Governor, who promised to ‘rock the system’ years ago, and then didn’t lift a finger to pass anything.
- The Conservative - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 2:45 pm:
The Democrat party
- Jeff Trigg - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 3:51 pm:
The Democratic Party of Illinois. Yes, the entire party including, and especially, their Chair.
If you can’t trust your leaders to hold free and equal elections what can you trust them with? That answer should be nothing.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Illinois has held unconstitutional and illegal elections since 1980. Illinois has the worst ballot access laws for independents of any election jurisdiction in the entire world. All candidates have the same requirement to get on the ballot in almost all of the democracized world, including Iraq, Russia, Pakistan, and India to name a few. But not in Illinois, where independents can face requirements 75 times higher than the Rs and Ds, the most strict of any democracy in the world.
Add to that the Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois expending massive funds and resources to remove Ralph Nader from the ballot, while at the same time bending over backwards to allow Bush to ignore the rule of law and get on the ballot.
Add to that, our Democratic Attorney General losing the battle in the 7th Circuit trying to protect the worst in the world ballot access laws, wasting taxpayer money doing so.
Add to that the Democratic Speaker refusing to allow SB733 to come up for vote which would have finally leveled the playing field for all candidates in Illinois.
I don’t know that there is much higher corruption than rigging and monopolizing elections. Every Democrat in this state that continues to support these Democratic Party of Illinois leaders who are anti-democratic, the very name of their political party, are just as guilty of election corruption.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 3:53 pm:
The media.
If you buy advertising, give reporters info, or are friendly with the editors you get improved coverage. If you don’t, you open yourself up to their attacks.
With extremely few exceptions, they will never go after one another.
They take insignificant issues and sensationalize them in order to sell papers. They take significant issues and downplay them in order to not alienate customers and advertisers.
They distort and leave out facts that contradict the premise of their story, “in order to tell a simplier story”…even if it is misleading.
They question everyone’s intentions and agendas, except their own.
They repeat myths as fact, because they don’t want to buck conventional wisdom.
But they present themselves as objective professionals who should never be questioned.
- Jeff Trigg - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 3:54 pm:
And on that note. Goodbye Illinois. You suck!
- IDOT Engineer - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:24 pm:
To I.D.O.T. Bleachers:
You can say that again! Remember when we used to say it couldn’t get worse than it was under George Ryan? If we only knew then what we do now!
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:31 pm:
Fitzgerald and Collins, because they find corrupt people and send them to prison instead of throwing them back so we can have the fun of catching them again. The official State Game is Corruption and they are doing it great damage.
- anon4:35 - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:33 pm:
Autobody mechanics. Tough to find a good body mechanic when you need one.
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 4:45 pm:
Private - Ameren
Government - Cook County Board and President’s office
- state worker A - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 5:01 pm:
I agree with I.D.O.T. Bleachers. Also - IDOT Engineer, I have said the same thing many, many times. Come back George.
- Illinois Prison Talk - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 5:38 pm:
The Illinois Department of Corrections - finally someone is investigating the corruption and kickbacks. Since our inmate population is easily forgotten and ‘nothing is bad enough for them’ the IDOC administration is allowed to treat Illinois prisoners inhumanely. Improper medical treatment, substandard food and lack of programs are the results of mismanagement, corruption and lack of concern. Our prisons are a hotbed of disease, mental illness and idleness.
- Oh my favorite subject - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 6:47 pm:
Let’s start with those outside the electoral process buying influence (builders not only with the general assembly but with outside government agencies) and then those within buying votes to pass a budget, one by one. It was so pathetic to watch as they took a democratic member off the floor one at a time. I lost all respect. Memos of understanding. In some sense isn’t that prostilitizing? No sense of honor, no virtue.
“If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude and all the other Qualities which enoble the character of a nation, and fulfil the ends of Government, be the fruits of our establishments, the cause of liberty will acquire a dignity and lustre…” James Madison Well Jimmy not so much.
- Alanman - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 7:26 pm:
The State Personnel System. We alway hire two people for every job, because one is worthless and there for politics, and the other person is expected to do the work for two people.
- Jims - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:13 pm:
Hands down, the IDOC. The extortionate rates for telephone calls from prisons to their attorneys and family members is 6 times higher than regular telephone rates; and Illinois has the dubious distinction of having the highest rates in the country. Lack of medical care for the inmates; food shortages and substandard nutrition - all without public accountability. Add to that, an overall poor record of administration and questionable promotion and hiring policies, and IDOC easily wins this award for most corrupt Illinois institution.
- southern man - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:26 pm:
I agree that the IDOC is the most corrupt agency. But this is because these patronage jobs are easily filled with the least qualified people. Who cares if inmates complain? The public attitude is that they should be punished anyway, so who cares? The agency administration is completly inept. If it were not for veteran staff looking out for another the entire agency would be in the crapper.
- Blue Dog - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:30 pm:
What about the banking / finance system? Look at the fees the banks charge for just about everything. I know the oil companies got us good, but the banking industry is tops.
- Holdingontomywallet - Tuesday, Jul 24, 07 @ 8:36 pm:
1. The Democratic Machine in Chicago
2. The Democratic Machine in Cook County
3. The Illinois Department of Public Health
4. MSNBC
5. Oprah
6. Hollywood
- bluedog demo - Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 6:54 am:
So that’s why during the 25 year GOPer reign we had so many State employees because we hired two to fill one positon. One a political hack the other a so called worker. No wonder Blago booted 10,000 plus. Not defending Blago in the least but his ” patronage ” army is peanuts to the GOPer guvs !
- Not So Fast - Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 10:45 am:
How can we forget Cicero?
- FAN of CAP FAX - Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 12:49 pm:
Leave Cicero alone!
Has to be the Sec of State’s office. Quietly corrupt.
- Don't Forget... - Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 3:19 pm:
Don’t forget the Illinois Gaming Board.
- Shelbyville - Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 6:41 pm:
Southwest baseball league.