You Aren’t Going to Believe These Payouts…

The sickest part is, this money is not a snapshot of taxpayer-backed congressional salaries. That money comes in through a separate check.

Let’s call these “annual bonuses” instead.

Our elected officials have graciously deemed themselves worthy of such bonuses. In fact, most of our leaders wrote the bylaws that primed their paths to riches.

And put bluntly, they’re robbing the American system blind…

Dear American Tax Payer

Remember the old public service announcements that asked, “It’s eleven o’clock… do you know where your children are?”

Well, I’d like to issue a public service announcement of my own… One that’s revamped and more fitting for current times. It goes a little something like this…

“It’s 2013, do you know where your hard-earned tax dollars are?”

It’s a rhetorical question, really.

Obviously, a good portion of those dollars are set up for direct deposit into our lawmakers’ accounts. That isn’t all too upsetting. Our congressmen need to get paid.

But there’s more. You see, our federal tax dollars are far from the only dollars politicians are receiving on a monthly basis…

In fact, one out of five congressmen and women pull from a state or local pension plan while simultaneously working for the federal government.

Now before the wheels in your brain start turning, I’m going to be the bearer of bad news… The chances of you doing the same are highly unlikely.

You see, many states and municipalities forbid the practice of retiring then taking on a full-time job within the same governmental system.

Yet elected officials who’ve worked on a state level don’t have to play by those same rules…

Rules that they wrote before graduating to federal employment…

Major Party Foul

The technique congressmen and women are using is referred to as “double dipping.” Long gone are the days when that was simply a concern at dinner parties…

Truth is, while it’s a highly denounced scheme, it’s also an entirely legal way for U.S. lawmakers to rake in cash.

Congress alone has just over one hundred members who’ve collected government pension alongside their $174,000 taxpayer-financed salaries. That’s about one in five members of the House. And last year alone, they closed out with $3.6 million between them.

The spectrum ranges from tea partiers who protest against government waste to the uber-liberals who cry out for equality and wealth sharing.

Take Joyce Beatty for example…

In 2012, she took in $253,323 from her government pension alone!

Add that to her congressional salary, and she walked away with about a cool half mil – more than Obama’s documented income for the same year.

Even senators are getting in on it.

After retiring from her previous government job, Senator Diane Feinstein has received $850,000 from her pension since joining the Senate in 1992. Keep in mind that this woman is worth $70 million, yet she still finds the need to pull from pension payouts.

So, while she and the rest of her gluttonous clan stand on their pedestals and preach fiscal responsibility, just know that they have no intention of leading by example.

They’re standing at the front of the line waiting to feed from their bloated, publically-funded retirement troughs while simultaneously collecting publically-funded salaries.

And this activity has gained the attention of government watchdog groups along with conservative organizations who deem this feeding frenzy unacceptable. Reason being, on top of an already healthy salary, the average Congressional pensioner will walk away from office with an extra $1 – 2 million lining their pockets.

In these tough economic times, Congress’s abysmal, 12% public approval rating is sure to sink even lower — especially since the average American employee will be lucky to receive any pension at all.
Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the tired, old Washington mantra, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

And it’s a sure-fire way to further the careers of “lifer” politicians who seek office for profit rather than to serve the people of our once-great nation.

Your eyes on the Hill,

Martin Biancuzzo

Source: Capitolhilldaily