Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

Clark Burris was a nice enough guy as a state politician in Illinois. He served as the state comptroller and then as the Attorney General. But when he tried to elevate himself further, trying to get nominated and elected as Illinois Governor, he struck out badly. By all reports, Burris as never in the Democratic power group in Illinois. He was never accused of any wrongdoing. Like I said--a nice enough guy.

Then Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Presidency, leaving his seat in the U.S. Senate open for appointment of a replacement by the Illinois Governor, Rod Blagoevich. Blagoevich turned out to be a crook and tried to sell the seat to the highest bidder. Burris, or "his people", approached the Governor to express an interest in the appointment. There is some evidence that Burris promised to "raise some money" for Blagoevich. Appaently that never happened. But the Governor did appoint Burris to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.





Burris went thru a period where his seating was blocked, then finally, in mid-January, 2009 he was officially seated in the Senate. Ever since, he's been shunned by the rest of the Senate although he finally was given committee assignments on the Military Affairs and National Security committees.

But now, Burris is announcing that he will not run for election in the 2010 elections. Not "re-election" but "election", as he was never elected in the first place. His service as a U.S. Senator will amount to about 23 months, less than one-third of a full term.

Now some one tell me that I'm incorrect on the following...as a former U.S. Senator, even though appointed and not elected, and having served for less than two years, Burris will get full lifetime retirement pay and medical benefits, plus whatever other perks go to ex-U.S. Senators.

Someone tell me that I'm wrong on this. Please tell me I'm wrong!