Distrust of the government is well deserved. How many are Democrats? Wanna guess.

Study examines decades of Cook County corruption
UIC-BGA REVIEW
February 19, 2010

BY LISA DONOVAN Cook County Reporter

Sure, the lineup of Illinois governors and Chicago alderman marched off to prison is infamous, but a new study shines a light on Cook County government corruption.
Consider: Nearly 150 elected leaders, high-ranking officials and people doing business with the county have been convicted in corruption cases ranging from bribery to ghost-payrolling dating back to 1957, a study released Thursday by the University of Illinois at Chicago and Better Government Association found.
RELATED STORIESCook County: Anti-corruption reports
"The pervasive pattern of corruption must be changed if county government is to provide honest, effective, efficient and transparent government at a cost the taxpayers can afford," said Dick Simpson, a study co-author and the head of UIC's political science department.
He introduced the study just outside the office of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, ousted by voters in this month's primary after championing an unpopular sales tax hike and hiring a steakhouse busboy who was quickly promoted to a $61,000-a-year highway department job. When news broke that Stroger's chief financial officer and cousin Donna Dunnings bailed Cole out of jail, both lost their jobs.
Stroger's office issued a statement calling the study a "publicity stunt" and noted "no indictment related to any actions of this administration has occurred during President Stroger's term."
But the study does look back at decades of corruption cases, including Operation Greylord -- a federal probe of the Cook County Court system that ended with 15 judges, 47 lawyers and 24 police officers and court personnel convicted of crimes. The most notorious was Judge Thomas J. Maloney, convicted of taking bribes to fix felony cases, including murder.
The study calls for a number of reforms, including more ethics training for employees, stricter rules limiting the hiring of family members, and capping individual and group donations to campaigns at $1,500 in an election cycle.