Here in New Jersey, we recognize that our state has a certain reputation. And we wear that reputation proudly. I've told you before how in 2005, the governor invited citizens to suggest a new slogan. Results poured in.
Three quarters of the state is really nice.Great place to visit. You just can't afford to live here.The traffic will kill you. Have a nice day.
And my personal favorite -
Most of our elected officials have not been indicted.
As a writer of crime fiction, I appreciate that my setting gives me plenty to work with. Only today I need to come to New Jersey's defense. Today, I need to stand tall and tell you that 40% of you are more corrupt than those of us who live in New Jersey. That's right. After extensive analysis,
TheDailyBeast has ranked all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) according to corruption. New Jersey comes in at #21. That's right boys and girls. Twenty states are more corrupt than New Jersey. TheDailyBeast analyzed data in five broad categories of corruption including -
public corruptionracketeering and extortionfraudforgery and counterfeitingembezzlement
and New Jersey ranked twenty-first. Even in our specialty - public corruption - we only ranked eleventh.
So, what states, you may ask, are more corrupt than New Jersey?
1. Tennessee2. Virginia3. Mississippi4. Delaware5. North Carolina6. Florida7. Nevada8. Pennsylvania9. South Carolina10. Oklahoma11. Georgia12. Alabama13. Texas14. Arkansas15. Missouri16. Hawaii17. South Dakota18. Wisconsin19. Louisiana20. ArizonaRead 'em and weep.
Comments (20)
Uh... how exactly was this "analyzed"?
I can just imagine a survey going around - "Have you ever embezzled money from your company? Yes/No. If yes, about how often? Very often, Often, Neither often nor not often, Not often, Very not often..." :D
Illinois didn't make the 20. I am impressed.
@amygwen - Illinois ranked 16th in public corruption and 18th in racketeering & extortion, but was remarkably clean in in fraud, embezzlement and forgery & counterfeiting.
Well, shucks. Indiana isn't on the list either. We must be too vanilla. I have to agree with amygwen that I am surprised that Illinois is missing.
Mostly southern states. How about that!
@AprilsPlace - I think you may be correct regarding Indiana. Here's the best that TheDailyBeast could come up with - "Fraud rocked a small town in Indiana in 2008. Margaret Anne Jansen, the 79-year-old, longtime clerk-treasurer of Rocky Ripple, Indiana (pop. 700) was investigated on suspicion of embezzling $36,000..."
@SerenaDante - If you're curious about the methodology, this link provides a brief summary of the data sources.
You're from New Jersey? I have spent countless hours tooling up and down the pike or stuck in traffic waiting for my turn to pay the 40 buck entrance fee into New York City.
I've lived in five of those states. Hawaii's inclusion in the top 15 makes me sad, but not too surprised.
I'm a little surprised that CA didn't make the list! Btw -- what happened to the 10 that aren't included in 21 + 20?
I wonder if there is a correlation between that and pay?
@slmret - You'll find the complete list here. California ranked 29th overall, but did rank 16th in embezzlement, 17th in forgery & counterfeiting and 19th in racketeering & extortion.
@HereLiesNelsontheGreat - Earn less, steal more? (Now there's a great state slogan).
Neither Illinois nor California here? How quickly they've forgotten Blogo! Or maybe now that he's a reality TV star, that puts him in a different category!
Shocked Illinois wasn't there.
Springsteen and Bon Jovi came out of New Jersey. You'll never hear a critical word from me!
My favorite state, Montana, is number 50 while the state where I live is number 11. But these numbers are probably skewed since a lot of the corruption in NJ isn't reported because (a) the reporting people there are all corrupt and/or (b) nobody realizes that certain stuff is wrong.
My own state came in at a boring #38. How nebulous of us.
I don't know anything about corruption in the US, except that occasionally the money ends up here. What did people in Tennessee do that was so much more than the others?
I wonder how this compares with the tremendous scandal recently of MPs in the UK fiddling expenses to such an extent that one of them was billing the taxpayer for cleaning his moat and having a custom-built house for his ducks? Since all parties were equally guilty, no one used it in the election last week.
i read that as well..and i was soooo happy to hear NJ was not #1... and not in the top 10
I like to think of all the great things from NJ...
so i was feeling better ....
@lightnindan - I think that might have been another slogan entry "NJ-you have to pay to leave."
Well, at least we're still in the top 1/2 of corrupt! I lived in VA for a long time. I just have to remind everyone that a lot of politicians live in Northern Virginia, because it's right outside of DC.