Former Lawmakers Join Ranks of Unemployed

ABC News’ Rick Klein Reports: Time was when a stint in Congress meant a lifetime employment guarantee, with law firms, lobbying shops, and any company with a “government relations” division eager to line up boldfaced Washington names. That  has traditionally  included names whose luster faded in reelection losses. But the AP’s Andrew Miga has an interesting piece posted about some former lawmakers who are now, like a growing portion of their fellow Americans, unemployed.  Among some higher-profile recently defeated members of Congress, Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., Thelma Drake, R-Va., and Nick Lampson, D-Texas, still lack jobs. So does former Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., who — as a sharp young (44) former senator — would typically be the kind of person to land a salary in the high six figures within weeks of losing a race. A sign of the times, with the Obama administration talking about closing revolving doors, and new ethics laws further limiting the work options in a tighter economy? Maybe, although some, like Shays, could still pop up in the Obama administration (Shays has been mentioned to head the Peace Corps). Others, like Sununu, are grabbing work where they can get it (he was recently named to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, and will be joining the board of Time Warner Cable Inc.).