# Jessie Jackson Jr. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757 "2013-08-20T23:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/1 "2013-08-20T23:33:22Z")
Is it true Jessie Jackson Jr. will receive, while in prison and maybe for life, $8.700.00 per month associated for a disability claim related to Bi-Polar Disease? Is it also true he will receive a $45,000.00 annual pension for life once he turns 65? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/2 "2013-08-20T23:56:22Z")
I _think_ a felony conviction eliminates the pension, but I’m not at all sure on that. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/3 "2013-08-20T23:56:53Z")
[Yes](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=9206552). Do you have an opinion on the matter? ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/4 "2013-08-21T00:30:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [Yes](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=9206552). Do you have an opinion on the matter? Only because you ask, my opinion is the payment the pension and the disability is a travesty. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/5 "2013-08-21T08:00:45Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > Only because you ask, my opinion is the payment the pension and the disability is a travesty. What’s your plan? Somebody convicted of a crime should have all their personal property seized by the government? We have programs like that with RICO laws and there’s evidence it influences law enforcement. There certainly have been historical examples of governments targeting people as criminals in order to justify taking confiscating their property. I don’t see it as a direction we want this country to go. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/6 "2013-08-21T13:09:32Z")
W/regard to the disability, I am skeptical that Mr. jackson’s bi-polar condition is a result of his service in congress. W/regard to the pension, only in government service does someone who commits a series of felonies get rewarded with a pension. If government was as intolerant of bad behavior as the private sector we’d all be better off. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/7 "2013-08-21T13:14:26Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > W/regard to the disability, I am skeptical that Mr. jackson’s bi-polar condition is a result of his service in congress. > > W/regard to the pension, only in government service does someone who commits a series of felonies get rewarded with a pension. > > If government was as intolerant of bad behavior as the private sector we’d all be better off. After all we know about, for example, the banking crisis, you have come to the conclusion that the private sector is intolerant of corruption? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/8 "2013-08-21T13:20:13Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > W/regard to the disability, I am skeptical that Mr. jackson’s bi-polar condition is a result of his service in congress. > > W/regard to the pension, only in government service does someone who commits a series of felonies get rewarded with a pension. > > If government was as intolerant of bad behavior as the private sector we’d all be better off. Felons with private sector jobs lose their vested retirement benefits? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/9 "2013-08-21T14:37:02Z")
\*\*SanDiegoTim \*\*- you asked your question in kind of a funny forum. If you had asked in General Questions, you would have gotten your answer and nobody should’ve sniped at you. If you had asked in Great Debates ("\*Should \*Jesse Jackson Jr. get his pension and money for bipolar disorder?"), you would have set up a debate about it. Here, you’re kind of getting the worst of both worlds. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/10 "2013-08-21T15:34:45Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > W/regard to the disability, I am skeptical that Mr. jackson’s bi-polar condition is a result of his service in congress. > > W/regard to the pension, only in government service does someone who commits a series of felonies get rewarded with a pension. > > If government was as intolerant of bad behavior as the private sector we’d all be better off. You can be as skeptical as you want. But Jackson was given his disability after being examined by real doctors who actually met him. And the government isn’t giving Jackson a pension because he committed felonies. They’re giving him a pension because he worked for the government and paid into the pension plan. Like I asked before, do you want to expand the government’s power to seize people’s property? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/11 "2013-08-21T16:13:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You can be as skeptical as you want. But Jackson was given his disability after being examined by real doctors who actually met him. And these “doctors” somehow cocluded that bipolar disorder was caused by Jackson serving in Congress? Uh huh. Sure. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/12 "2013-08-21T16:32:15Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > And these “doctors” somehow cocluded that bipolar disorder was caused by Jackson serving in Congress? Uh huh. Sure. :rolleyes: Are you a doctor? Are you a “doctor”? Have you examined Jackson? Have you ever met Jackson? If not, you should explain why you think you have more credibility when you have less knowledge than the people you’re expecting us not to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/13 "2013-08-21T16:45:43Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > And these “doctors” somehow cocluded that bipolar disorder was caused by Jackson serving in Congress? Uh huh. Sure. :rolleyes: What makes you think that a disability has to be caused by your job? It just has to make you unable to do your job. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/14 "2013-08-21T22:55:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What makes you think that a disability has to be caused by your job? It just has to make you unable to do your job. He may be conflating the disability payments with VA disability payments. To receive disability from the VA, your disability must be “Service Connected” meaning caused by military service. I dn’t know if congressional disability works the same way, but I don’t think that everyone with bi-polar disorder receives disability payments from the government. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/15 "2013-08-21T23:21:02Z")
> [@tonyfop](#): > > I dn’t know if congressional disability works the same way, It doesn’t. > [@](#): > > but I don’t think that everyone with bi-polar disorder receives disability payments from the government. If your doctor tells the government that your disability makes it so that you are unable to work to earn income, then you qualify. A lot of doctors interpret this to mean “unable to work in a job that you are qualified to do in your locality.” Thus, if the only jobs in your area that you qualify for are retail jobs that require you to stand all day, and your doctor determines that you have a back problem that prevents you from standing all day, then he or she might very well certify that your disability prevents you from working, and that is enough for you to get disability payments. This is true even though it’s conceivable that a person who has a back problem preventing him or her from standing all day might very well be able to in theory do a job that he or she otherwise has no chance of getting, either because of lack of education or training or experience or because it doesn’t exist in the locality that he or she lives in. If Jesse Jackson Jr.'s doctor has determined that his bipolar disorder makes him unable to work in any job that he has a chance of qualifying for, then that might very well be enough for him to be entitled to disability benefits. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/16 "2013-08-22T12:59:31Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > And these “doctors” somehow cocluded that bipolar disorder was caused by Jackson serving in Congress? Uh huh. Sure. :rolleyes: I think you’re confusing disability with a Workman’s Comp claim. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/17 "2013-08-22T17:30:18Z")
I think J-cubed will be fine, with or without his pension. His family has resources. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/18 "2013-08-22T23:52:15Z")
It sounds like he might have private disability insurance. I seriously doubt that any government plan would make payments that big. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jessie-jackson-jr/666757/19 "2013-08-22T23:58:08Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > And these “doctors” somehow cocluded that bipolar disorder was caused by Jackson serving in Congress? Uh huh. Sure. :rolleyes: The cause of the disability doesn’t have to be related to the occupation. If you get hit by a truck and can no longer be a surgeon, you get your benefits. If you have bi polar disorder and can no longer be a congressman, you get your benefits. I hasten to add, the disability policy probably covers more than congressional employment. The question isn’t why he lost his job (i.e., resigned) but whether he can perform the material duties of his profession, or another occupation for which is reasonably suited based on his age, education, experience, and station in life. If he really has bi polar disorder, I can easily imagine it could prevent gainful employment in most suitable occupations. On the other hand, it may be that it can be controlled by medication or other treatment to an extent where it is no longer disabling. There are also many cases where the insurance company says “you’re unemployed not because of your medical condition, but because you’re in jail. We don’t cover that.” In that case, they’ll cut him off and he’ll have to sue if he wants to challenge it.