Convicted Felon with ‘Mood Disorder’ Receives $8,700/Month Disability & My Daughter with Brain Tumor Denied

When I read about former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a convicted felon, receiving $8,700 a MONTH in disability for his mood disorder, I was and still am livid.

Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandra pled guilty to the criminal charges of illegally using campaign funds for personal gain. Sandra stole a mere $168,000 from the campaign fund, while her hubby pilfered a whopping $750,000. Among the 3,100 personal lavishes that were financed with campaign funds between 2005 to April 2012, were fur capes and parkas purchased by Sandra for $5,150. Jesse Jr used $9,587.64 of campaign funds to buy children’s furniture and another $43,350 for a gold-plated Rolex watch. The couple used Campaign credit cards to purchase $582,772 worth of personal items, $60,857 for restaurants, lounges, nightclubs and gym memberships, $5,814 for alcohol and $14,513 for dry cleaning. Additionally, his campaign fund paid Sandra’s consulting firm $5,000 a week during the entire time of his indiscretions. The consulting fees totaled up to over $340,000.

As part of the plea deal, Sandra has been ordered to pay restitution of $168,000 and Jesse Jr has been ordered to pay restitution of $750,000. Federal prosecutors have recommended that Sandra also serve 18 months in prison and Jesse Jr serve 48 months in prison. They also recommend that Sandra serve her sentence first and then Jesse since the couple have kids. If you asked me, both parents should serve time together and the kids would be much better off living with someone else that might help instill better values and morals.

After pleading guilty to felony charges, resigning his seat in the US House of Representatives and serving time in prison, Jackson Jr. is still receiving $45,000 a year as a partial federal pension. If that’s not bad enough, he is also receiving $8,700 a month in disability. That’s $104,400 a year in disability, which is nearly twice the average household income in America.

Jackson Jr. has no history of any mental disorder before he was investigated for stealing from his campaign funds. Then suddenly he develops a mood disorder to explain his stealing, disappearance and other personal problems.

This makes me fuming mad. My oldest daughter had a pituitary tumor removed several years ago. It damaged the optic nerve to her left eye. The endocrinologist gave her anti-cancer drugs afterwards which destroyed the cartilage in her knees. She now walks bone on bone which quite painful. The drugs also caused her to put on a lot of weight.

Her pituitary tumor has returned and caused further damage to the left optic nerve and further impaired the vision in her left eye. She can see shapes, colors, light and dark, but not much more out of that eye. She has to close her left eye in order to read anything. Because the eye is not totally blind, it still tried to focus, causing her severe eye strain headaches. She cannot stay on a computer more than an hour or two because of the headaches.

She’s tried twice to get disability but has been turned down both times. Doctors hired by Social Security testified that she can still function and drive with one eye. However, it’s not just one eye, but extremely blurred vision in one eye that prevents her from seeing well enough to drive at night or on cloudy and rainy days and we have our share of those in this area.

The doctors testified that she can work on a computer, sitting down so she doesn’t have to be on her feet, but they failed to consider the eye strain headaches she gets after a short time on the computer.

She also has fibrous dysplasia in her nasal area. This is a condition where the bone grows and gets fibrous and soft. It is slowly closing off the right side of her nasal passage. Doctors tell her that there is no cure for fibrous dysplasia and once they operate on it to trim the bone, it only causes it to grow and expand faster.

At her last hearing, the female judge became very negative once she found out that my daughter’s husband worked for an international Christian ministry.

She cannot get disability but a convicted felon, disgraced ex-US Representative who suddenly develops a mood disorder with no prior history of mental problems can get $8,700 a month in disability. I can’t help but believe that Jr. got his disability because he is the son of infamous racial activist Jesse Jackson and friends with President Barack Obama.

Personally, I don’t believe that Jackson Jr. should receive any partial federal pension since he resigned from Congress and was guilty of stealing campaign funds for personal use. He is a convicted felon and as such should be treated like one. Additionally, I highly question his supposed mood disorder as being real and question the disability payments even more. Everyone that I know that receives any kind of disability receives less than $2,000 a month, many less than $1,000 a month. As congressman, he only made $133,600 a year so how does he warrant $104,400 a year in disability?

I hope this angers you as much as it does me.