[US Navy Vet]

AGAIN I ask(I REALLY want to know) why is Chicago and/or Cook County, IL so corrupt? What in the history of the area turned them corrupt, what event?

[Stosh]

“AGAIN I ask(I REALLY want to know) why is Chicago and/or Cook County, IL so corrupt?”

They’ve perfected the machine: if you don’t support your local precinct captain, your garbage doesn’t get emptied; if you don’t support your local alderman, your building permit never comes through; if you don’t support your local mayor, your zoning variance is never approved, etc., etc., etc.

That kind of cronyism permeates the city from top to bottom.

And most of the big fish insulate themselves from as much direct involvement as possibe. Lots of little fish get swept up from time-to-time, but except for governors, oddly enough, most of the rest of the major slime just skate above the cesspool.

And by the way, the “crony-capitalism” the current crowd in the White House has in mind for the country incorporates this sort of stuff on a truly grand scale.

[GonzoGOP]

AGAIN I ask(I REALLY want to know) why is Chicago and/or Cook County, IL so corrupt? What in the history of the area turned them corrupt, what event?

As best I can tell it has always been corrupt. Al Capone cleaned things up in the 20's. At least we knew who the politicians were working for. And Al's tendency to shoot rivals ensured that the politicians were only taking bribes from him.

But with the downfall of organized crime under the Capone family, Chicago reverted to disorganized crime under the Daley family. Old man Daley wasn't too bad since he worked under the theory that you could take a dollar from a million people and nobody would notice. His son in contrast works under the theory that you take everything from everyone and use the ward bosses to distribute some of their own money back to them, but only those who are politically reliable.

Here in Illinois we have term limits. Chicago mayors are limited to a single lifetime term. Governors do 6-8 years in Springfield and then 12-16 in federal prison.