The Corruption Belt

[Nice Squirrel]

In a discussion about the destruction of the capitalist system in Kentucky, somebody posted links to a study about the corruption of public officials.

http://fortune.com/2014/06/10/most-corrupt-states-in-america/

I found this map to be enlightening:
From the study:
Figure 1. Public Officials’ Corruption in U.S. States: Average, 1976–2008

But I also take it with a grain of salt since it is 32 years of data.

So what say ye? Do we have a corruption belt?

 

[Factinista]

Looks more like a corruption Sash.

 

[Bronzeage]

It sucks to live in a corrupt state, but it is a little strange to be judged on how many people were caught and convicted. It's sort of like drawing the frequency of teen sex from statistics on teen pregnancy.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Looks more like a corruption Sash.

Thank you. I disagreed with belt but I wasn't coming up with a better term.

 

[Bronzeage]

Looks more like a corruption Sash.

Thank you. I disagreed with belt but I wasn't coming up with a better term.

It's a corruption tie, with matching cuff links and Alaska is the Rolex.

 

[dismal]

I would want to see the data and understand it before making conclusions.

Some of these don't match intuition, so I'd want to make sure there is not something else at work.

If you asked me what the most corrupt states were I'd say Illinois, Louisiana and New Jersey based on the high number of public scandals.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Thank you. I disagreed with belt but I wasn't coming up with a better term.

It's a corruption tie, with matching cuff links and Alaska is the Rolex.

Cuff links????

I think it must be military, those are some sort of collar insignia. Cuff links aren't that high up!

 

[Bronzeage]

It's a corruption tie, with matching cuff links and Alaska is the Rolex.

Cuff links????

I think it must be military, those are some sort of collar insignia. Cuff links aren't that high up!

They are when he's begging the judge to let him off with a fine.

 

[Mageth]

Cuff links????

I think it must be military, those are some sort of collar insignia. Cuff links aren't that high up!

They are when he's begging the judge to let him off with a fine.

He's paying the judge to let him off with a fine.

(And I'd call it a corruption gerrymander.)

 

[fromderinside]

Its a problem of "see teat. Suck". As long as people believe government money is theirs this practice will continue. You might also consider that most of the worst states are also the states who send less than they receive to federal coffers.*

*^{_{another way of saying low wage states which brings up another thought. Perhaps so will say 'people are just trying to stay alive'. Yeah, except that most of the fraud is committed by fat cats.}}

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Wait... New Jersey is clean?!

 

[Mageth]

Wait... New Jersey is clean?!

"Getting Caught Belt" might be a better name for it...

 

[fromderinside]

Wait... New Jersey is clean?!

"Getting Caught Belt" might be a better name for it...

Dumb is as dumb serves.

 

[Bronzeage]

Wait... New Jersey is clean?!

If you are interested in opportunities to help clean New Jersey, I can help you obtain janitorial contracts with state agencies. There plenty of money in this kind of work and more than enough to go around.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And shouldn't Louisiana have its own color? This is the state where a Representative (Democrat William Jefferson) was caught having tens of thousands stashed in his freezer! And fucking won re-election after that!

 

[dismal]

I was thinking one doesn't think of Montana, ND, SD and Alaska as corrupt so I googled a bit and found they nail lot of indian tribes on federal corruption charges.

This is why it would be good to have the data.