Nobody actually lives in the top 5 states.

Okay…

Best 5: Utah, Wyoming, and Iowa are all great socially, politically, environmentally, and economically. Never been to the others, though North Dakota doesn't cause problems so I presume it's just fine…

Worst 5: New Jersey is pathetic. California is pathetic but at least it realizes it's pathetic. Arizona is run by a sheriff. Illinois isn't as much a mess as others in my mind, but the governor's seat is - I want to say the last four governors of Illinois (aside from Quinn) are in prison right now. Don't know a thing about RI.

I'm surprised that New York isn't on that list. Maybe they'd get on the "worst Spanish pronunciation by the governor" list.

Their methodology is completely bogus. For example: "Employment is also closely correlated to how well a state is managed." Clearly mixing correlation with causation. California's downturn, for example, is directly related to the housing bubble and recession, something not caused by politicians. None of the top states have a particularly low poverty rate, which is clearly weighted less than other economic factors, and it really shouldn't be.

This article is absurd. Illinois is the worst run state. At least Governor Brown in California is trying to do something, Governor Quinn and Speaker Madigan (the guy who really runs the state) are doing nothing to keep the state from going under.

Only two of our governors are in prison right now, bo_sox48. Give us a little credit.

Heh.. is it only two? Ryan, Blagojewhateverthefuckhisnameis, Walker, and someone else all went to prison. Maybe the latter two are out.

Upon further research, apparently Walker was governor in the 70s. Time for bed.

2nd White Line, asking the Wall Street Journal to give a fuck about poor people is kind of like asking a bear to use a bathroom instead of the woods for shitting.

You're already on the internet, find out. Just two are in now, and anyone else would be ancient history.

bo_sox is not on the internet. He accesses the forum by post.

I thought Invictus was being sarcastic when he said "give us a little credit" but I'm starting to think he's actually a little butthurt that his governors can't stop selling the President's Congressional seat away. Note to self… don't cross into Cook County…

Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and Canada... all are the worst , yeah.
Mexico no count.

None of their statistics were actually necessary for this "ranking". "Best run" = least deficit, and states with no deficit have such tiny budgets that it hardly bears mention. You can seriously compare the respective economies of California and Nebraska and expect apples to apples?

I was being sarcastic. The only thing more embarrassing than having two consecutive former governors in prison is all the other public officials who ought to be in prison but aren't. This place is a pig's breakfast and the fault lies entirely with our politicians of both parties. Illinois has one of the greatest cities in the world AND is the world's leading producer of soybeans, horseradish, and pumpkins. It takes a special kind of buffoon to crew that up.

What's worse, having your governor caught trying to sell a Senate seat or get busted in a prostitution ring that he fought against as AG?

The prostitution thing's worse, but Blago did so much more than just the Senate seat scandal. Shaking down a children's hospital for campaign donations, for example.

How the hell did Louisiana not make five worst? I demand a recount. We're not known as the Banana Republic of the United States of America for nothing.

Third world and proud of it. New Orleans isn't even in the South. It's the northernmost Carribean island.

California absolutely deserves its place at the bottom. The only thing Gov. Brown has done to "fix" things is campaign for higher taxes and more regulations - which he'll get in spades now that the Democrats have a supermajority in both houses.

North Dakota and Wyoming being at the top I imagine has more to do with the oil/gas boom than anything else.

YES! Home sweet home California...

Last place, lol.

Because hey, our last three governors have been 1. a schmuck who ended up being recalled, 2. Conan the Barbarian and 3. a guy who wasn't all that great the first time he was governor and was elected this time around as the lesser of two political stink bombs.

Grey Davis, Ahnuld, and Jerry Brown...yeah, not names to envy politically...

I'm just here to strenuously object to the title of the thread. "Best run states" is a dang sight different from "Best states." How many of us would rather live in North Dakota than California?

That's what I thought.

At least that's action. Springfield may decriminalize pot (kind of), but God forbid there's anything like a move to keep the pension system from dragging the state into the depths of insolvency hell. If I were more conspiratorially minded I'd say that there's some sort of understanding that Washington will bail the state out, especially considering how Election Day went. But I'm not. They're just a bunch of incompetent, moronic silly geese, and hopefully we'll purge them all in 2014. Democrats and Republicans alike.

That was for Tolstoy.

"How many of us would rather live in North Dakota than California?

That's what I thought."

Actually, I will be fleeing from California hopefully in a year or two and Wyoming is in fact one state I have considered landing on (Nebraska is another).

Yes, I'd rather live in Wyoming than California too, Tolstoy.

Don't think you 2 would be in the majority of people though.

No. And in any case, as a matter of logic, the two are distinct questions. How well a state is run is only one of the factors that contributes to its being a great state.

I would rather live in ANY of the Top Five than ANY of the Bottom Five, personally. All of the bottom states are shitholes and all of the top ones are slices of Midwest paradise.

I lived in some of bottom 5, and for a short time in North Dakota.

I lived in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and i would not trade my mountains here (we are not on either list) for those cities EVER again. I would sure move to any of the other 5 before I moved to California