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Corruption by the Numbers
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ShareNovember 06, 2006 12:13 PM
Public sector corruption is rampant in nearly half of the 163 nations included in the annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International, a Berlin-based private sector group that has issued the composite report on pubic corruption data for more than ten years.
Among industrialized nations with a serious and growing public corruption problem is the United States.
Iraq has sunk to the bottom of the list, ranking among the worst three of the 163 nation states surveyed. Only Myanmar and Haiti fare worse.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
"While the industrialized countries score relatively high on the CPI 2006, we continue to see major corruption scandals in many of these countries," the organization noted in releasing its annual report. "The presence of willing intermediaries -- who are often trained in or who operate from leading economies -- encourages corruption; it means the corrupt know there will be a banker, accountant, lawyer or other specialist ready to help them generate, move or store their illicit income."
Bribery scandals, such as the Jack Abramoff case in the United States, often contribute to the perception of corruption, Transparency International noted.
The CPI is comprised of data from multiple expert opinion surveys that polled perceptions of public corruption.
"Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption include: Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States. Countries with a significant improvement in perceived levels of corruption include: Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay," according to the report.
Transparency International has a strong business and security industry membership in 100 countries. The group lobbies for stiff anti-corruption laws and penalties for violating them. It concludes that there is a strong correlation between corruption and poverty, with serious corruption in all of the low income states surveyed.
Read the Corruption Perception Index report released by Transparency International.
November 6, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (5)
Connecticut is probably the most corrupt state in the US. Yes, I considered Louisiana in my ranking.
Eminent Domain became US law where the rich can displace the poor to become richer and exclude minorities and riffraff from resort and beach areas.
The Jim Crow laws and abuse is now very easy to see.
Speak out and you can end up a political prisoner in the US.
I did.
-Steven G. Erickson
Posted by: Steven G. Erickson | Nov 6, 2006 7:53:38 PM
Brian, why do you hate America?
In all serious though, does this suprise anyone? Our country is broken, and it's going to take a Democratic majority to fix it. Republicans, do the country a favor and stay home tomorrow. Come back and see us in 2008 though.
Posted by: Craig | Nov 6, 2006 8:07:16 PM
I don't know how they define "corruption", but it doesn't have to involve bags of cash. It can be a legal form of corruption, where, for instance, public servants take donations from companies and then do what those companies want, even if it enables illegal activity. Or, it can involve public servants enabling illegal activity in the hopes of getting votes. Both of those explain in large part why we have so much illegal immigration. And, it also helps explain why the Dems were unable to get traction with their "culture of corruption" charge. It's difficult to make that case when your party is just as corrupt as the GOP.
Posted by: IllegalImmigrationIntroduction | Nov 7, 2006 12:12:44 AM
The corruption of this administrtaion is staggering, and still the voters think this slimy little cabal is 'godly'.
Posted by: joecgillis | Nov 7, 2006 6:21:57 AM
Any political party which places it's interests above those of the equality and justness of it's action for all it's citizens is corrupted by party special interest.
Deomcrats and Replubicans share this quality, they are corrupt special interest parties who have secured for themselves the status of super citizen.
Consider their stance on protecting our nation from criminal employers and Illegal Immigrant destruction of or wage labor market. This is another in a long line of election failures, change is not progress and progress is not on the ballot this election.
Posted by: deminn | Nov 7, 2006 9:24:41 AM
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