Heard on NPR: Blago, No Unemployment For You!

Many of us heard on TV or radio or read in the newspaper or blogs how the Former Illinois Governor Blagojevich likes to compare himself to all sorts of famous people. "Famous" not "Infamous", that's the operative word here. Anyway, he's compared himself to Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he's compared his own surprise arrest by the Feds to the Pearl Harbor. One wonders: when is he going to compare himself to Jesus Christ? If you are talking about persecution, how can you forget about the story of Jesus Christ? After his impeachment was passed 59 to 0, he came home from his media tour in NYC, stood outside of his house, out of work, and compared himself to the "tens of thousands of people all across America, just like me who are losing there jobs or lost their jobs."

I am sure I was not the only one that wondered upon hearing this, Are we going to see him lining up in the unemployment office now? And, is being impeached, the same as being fired? Which would disqualify a person from receiving any unemployment checks. Being impeached is like getting fired in public, with millions of people watching your boss slapping down that pink slip on your desk and the company security guards escorting you out of the door. Right?

Thank goodness that NPR delivered the good news that eased my mind: No, you will not see Blago in the unemployment office any time soon, he is not eligible. But not because he is impeached (or fired), but because "Elected officials throughout Illinois, the wages that they earn in those capacities do not count towards unemployment insurance. [They] don't put money into the unemployment system, so they don't qualify benefits."

Note to self: Do not run for public offices and expect to collect unemployment checks. And if elected, try and not get fired.