Shocker: State Government Pretty Darned Corrupt

And you’ll be surprised at which state was ranked #1

(Fox News) State governments lack transparency and accountability to citizens, and remain at high risk for corruption, according to a new study of all 50 statehouses.

Not a single state received an A in the State Integrity Investigation ranking, a product of the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity.


Color me shocked.

Rounding out the top five states were: Connecticut (B, 86), Washington state (B-minus, 83), California (B-minus, 81) and Nebraska (B-minus, 80).

Nineteen states got grades of C, and 18 got a D. Eight states got an ‘F,’ with grades of 59 or lower: North Dakota, Michigan, South Carolina, Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia.

However, there does seem to be an interesting bias, namely, states with lots and lots of prosecutions seemed to have gotten better ratings because they are supposedly Doing Something, while those which didn’t have a lot of issues were ranked worse. And, then there is this

Many of the states at the bottom of the rankings, meanwhile, are sparsely-populated Western or Plains states like Idaho (40th), Wyoming (48 th ) and the Dakotas (North Dakota is number 43 and South Dakota comes in at 49). There, libertarianism roots, a small-town, neighborly approach to government and the honest belief that “everybody knows everybody” has overridden any perceived need for strong protections in law.

So, it’s not saying problems are occurring, just that the mean ole’ small government approach is bad. Uh huh.

Still, that should not detract from the central point that government with too much power and little accountability to the citizenry is a big problem. There is “lax enforcement and no oversight.” Massive conflicts of interest. Poor transparency. Loopholes. Little public access. Yet, liberals want more government.


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3 Responses to “Shocker: State Government Pretty Darned Corrupt”

  1. david7134 says:

    This is not a good poll. I live in Louisiana and we should be one of the most corrupt. In fact, it makes me mad that we are not the most corrupt.

  2. gitarcarver says:

    On the radio show the other day, we talked about the end of the Florida legislative session and the “winners” and “losers” of the session. (Also known as the bills that passed or did not pass.)

    Three different bills were described as “efforts to prevent people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from buying certain things with their government EBT card, such as junk food, alcohol, tobacco, or using them at ATMs in strip clubs and casinos.”

    Those bills FAILED.

    I still can’t figure it out. How can anyone support allowing people on the government dole to be getting cash out of ATM’s in casinos and strip clubs? Do these morons really think that people are in the strip clubs because there is no other ATM anywhere? Do they think the money being obtained in a casino is going to feed some kid?

    “Would you like a lap dance? We accept cash, credit cards, debit cards and of course your EBT card….”

    It makes you want to bang your head against the wall.

  3. You’re right, David, but, they are coming at it from a position of “Louisiana rocks for taking action against their massive graft”, not “hey, why does Louisiana have to take so much darned action: do they have that much graft?”

    That’s government for you, GT. Sadly, it is business as usual.

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