Corruption in Chicago Suburbs: Green Grass and Graft

University of Illinois-Chicago Political Science Department has a new report(PDF) on corruption. Not only is Chicago corrupt:

The City of Chicago attracts local, national, and even international attention for its long and salient culture of corruption. But the media and the general public tend to overlook the abundant political and public corruption that also exists in many of the region’s suburbs. Patronage, nepotism, cronyism, abuse of power and criminal activity flourish, sometimes for decades, in numerous city halls, police stations and special purpose government agencies in suburbs surrounding Chicago and in the collar counties. Public corruption has afflicted the north, south, and west suburbs. It impacts upper income and lower income villages, towns and cities.
More than 130 individuals have been convicted of corruption related schemes in the suburbs since the 1970s, including more than 100 public officials in the last two decades. Far from being an escape from the corrupt practices of the big, bad city, many of the suburbs seem determined to imitate them.

No word yet on why Barack Obama didn't try and fight corruption in Illinois.