Which State Is the Most Corrupt?

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In the wake of the Blagojevich scandal, we’ve heard a lot about how corrupt “Chicago politics” are. But what’s the real story? A pretty graph tells the tale:

corruption.png

Turns out that while Illinois is more corrupt than most states, it’s not Blagojevich but another allegedly-criminal Democrat, now-former Rep. William Jefferson, who comes from the most corrupt state in the union. That’s Louisiana, home to sometime GOP presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal. All four of the most corrupt states in the union are red states, and three are in the deep south. And the third-most corrupt state just reelected the Republicans’ leader in the senate, Mitch McConnell. Can we stop the ridiculous guilt-by-association game now? Just because a politician’s home state has a reputation (deserved or undeserved) for corruption doesn’t mean he or she is therefore also corrupt. Even if a sitting governor from the politician’s own party has just been arrested.

(Via Matt Yglesias)

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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