America's Most Corrupt City - Chicago 🇺🇸

17 insights saved from this video by @culture

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Electronic recording is the most accurate way to preserve events and document wrongdoing or newsworthy moments.
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Under an earlier Chicago machine, allies received 1% property-tax assessments while enemies faced assessments as high as 100%.
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An indictment alleged Alderman Ed Burke tied a Burger King expansion to hiring and paying his law firm.
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Chicago’s Daley-era “Hire a Truck” program allegedly paid tens of millions to connected truck owners for little or no city work.
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In 2003, Mayor Richard Daley sent construction trucks at midnight to damage Meigs Field’s runways despite questions about his authority.
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Chicago’s parking-meter contract makes pedestrian zones and bike lanes costly by charging the city for removed parking spaces.
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Chicago’s parking-meter lease was reportedly sold about $1 billion below market value and has cost the city $2–3 billion in foregone revenue.
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The Chicago Sun Times and a nonprofit bought the Mirage Tavern, installed hidden microphones, and exposed corruption among electrical inspectors.
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The ACLU defended neo-Nazis’ right to march in Skokie, Illinois, proving free speech principles can protect the reprehensible.
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In 37 states, single-party consent means one participant can record without informing the other.
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Mirage Tavern revelations were followed by Chicago tax-reform initiatives and improved government services, though reforms remained incomplete.
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The First Amendment must catch up with phones, GoPros, and button cameras.
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Chicago has repeatedly neared insolvency, with its credit rating falling to junk status during several periods.
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ShotSpotter uses neighborhood microphones and algorithms to locate probable gunshots quickly, helping police respond faster.
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Falling murder rates can hide a serious surge in property crime, especially when sensational news dominates coverage.
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Chicago sold long-term public assets for short-term cash, pushing today’s debt problems onto tomorrow’s residents.
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Protecting marginalized people’s rights and protecting everyone’s equal right to speak are co-equal commitments.

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