Prairie State Wire

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Curran doesn’t hold back in rendering his total indictment of Illinois government.

“People talk about how the system’s broken, but I’m quick to correct them,” Curran told the Prairie State Wire. “I show them how it really isn’t and how things work just the way the people that designed it want it to work.”

No matter how you view it, all the chaos is coming at great cost to the state, with a new University of Illinois at Chicago analysis finding that the state’s culture of corruption annually costs taxpayers in the neighborhood of $556 million.

“I actually think that’s an underestimation,” Curran added. “I’m convinced when you add in all the costs related to things like lobbying legislation and the like, the price is much higher.”

In addition to the hefty price tag, the data also finds that Illinois rates as the second-most corrupt state in the country (behind Louisiana) and Chicago tops the list of most corrupt cities, all of which goes a long way in crippling the state’s chances for economic growth and all forms of investment in it. Since the turn of the millennium, researchers note that the state’s corruption price tag easily tops $10 billion, or around $830 per person.

Besides pushing for things like term limits and stronger lobbying legislation, Curran, who is running against longtime Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), has a message for voters.

“We have to elect people who go to Springfield to do the work of the people and not to enrich themselves,” he said. “We need to demand that our lawmakers create a system that institutes better investigative powers. Right now, we’re allowing these career politicians to pass the laws to protect themselves from everything.”

This year alone, at least four state lawmakers have been indicted on corruption charges, adding to the state’s sordid political history that includes four governors having gone to prison over the last five decades.

And then there is longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan, who currently finds himself at the center of a still unfolding federal corruption probe involving ComEd and a pay-for-play scheme.

“Everybody knows Madigan needs to go,” Curran added.