When politics turns into a family business and public office becomes a private asset, ordinary people pay the bill. Illinois has earned its reputation as one of America's corruption capitals not because of a few "bad apples," but because of a well-oiled system: backroom deals, fake candidates, strategic resignations, and campaign-finance shell games that protect insiders and shut out voters. This isn't abstract; it shows up in your property tax bill, in what your city pays fo