Fucking State of: Illinois

Illinois can be a great state, but the usual condition of political corruption does its best to destroy the state. This is well entrenched in the city of Chicago where we are famous for the original Mayor Richard Daley's vote tampering that handed JFK Illinois' electoral college votes and therefore the presidency.

Recently, Todd Stroger became the President of the Cook County Board through nepotism. He has since proceeded to give jobs to his family & friends. If nepotism was good for him, it certainly was for them.

Then, on February 29, 2008, he proceeded to ram through the board an increase in sales taxes, that brought them to 10.25% - the highest in the nation. While this was done to increase badly needed revenue, it will probably end up driving business out of the city, and leading to a decrease in revenue instead.

None of this compares to the corruption of our Governor, Rod Blagojevich. After replacing the corrupt Governor George Ryan, who is now in jail, he promised to end corruption in the state and balance our budget. Instead, we're in debt just as ever, while he has engaged in cronyism, giving jobs & high-paying contracts to buddies and family members. Furthermore, instead of living in the Governor's mansion in Springfield, he still lives in Chicago, necessitating frequent plane trips to the capitol at the tax payers' expense.

Bottom Line: This would be a great state except for the government and its politicians - both Republican & Democratic.