Thread: Many Ill. voters sigh at political corruption

Many Ill. voters sigh at political corruption
6 commentsby Sophia Tareen - Jan. 19, 2009 12:00 AM
Associated Press
CHICAGO - Charlotte Podolner has faithfully voted in every election she could in her 88 years, then watched as one Illinois politician after another headed to jail.

That's just the way it goes here, she says, convinced that nothing - not even the federal corruption charges against Gov. Rod Blagojevich - will change the state's legacy of shady politics. About 1,000 elected officials, including three governors, have been convicted of corruption since the early 1970s.

"Chicago has a ... reputation for corrupt politics. It's not flattering, but we're always thought of as manipulators," said Podolner, a retired office worker from Chicago. "It's part of our tradition."
Checking your Credit Could Raise your Score
Credit Score Secrets Revealed
Build Muscle and Get Ripped without Steroids

Political experts say voters themselves bear some responsibility since they have continued to elect officials of questionable character.

Retired machinist Charles Lee, 56, said he wishes corrupt officials wouldn't keep getting elected in Illinois but says it's not his fault.

"We don't have that good of a choice," he said. "They're all crooks."

That might be an overstatement, and there are other reasons for Illinois' problems, including that so many candidates are entrenched in the state's machine politics and lax campaign-contribution laws, experts said.



Blagojevich - under federal investigation for several years over claims of hiring fraud and reportedly trading political favors for campaign donations - was arrested last month on corruption charges and faces an impeachment trial in the Senate.

He has not been convicted of any wrongdoing.

Blagojevich isn't the first governor to get caught up in scandal. Ex-Gov. Otto Kerner served time for a 1973 conviction on charges including bribery. Ex-Gov. Dan Walker pleaded guilty in 1987 to bank fraud and perjury. And in 2006, former GOP Gov. George Ryan was convicted of steering state contracts in exchange for favors. He is serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... s0119.html

here in Illinois we are out voted... the dead people almost always vote for the corrupt candidate...

Originally Posted by Lone_Patriot

here in Illinois we are out voted... the dead people almost always vote for the corrupt candidate...

Ain't that the truth! If we vote against the democrat mob then our votes are 'lost' enroute to be counted and we are given a choice of crook or shill candidate. I wrote in Duncan Hunter instead of either clown running for prez since I knew my non-dem vote didn't count anyway.

Moved to other topics

Lone Patriot, I feel your pain! My county just had a big voter registration fraud. Pets, dead people and illegal aliens were registering.... What must happen at voting

And you all still want to beleive that our election process still elects the President..