Pensions for felons
Read an excellent comment on The Hill Blog today by Johgn Berthoud of the National Taxpayers Union. I’ll just grab the part that means the most to me:
…..over the past 25 years roughly two-dozen lawmakers guilty of serious offenses have continued to receive their plush pensions. According to our calculations at the National Taxpayers Union, convicted Representative Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) qualified for a $96,000 pension in 1995 that could exceed $125,000 this year due to cost of living adjustments. Scandal-plagued Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) could qualify for a deferred pension of roughly $29,000 by the time he is eligible to receive payment.
Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is on record wanting to €śdrain the swamp€ť of corruption in Washington. One step in that direction would be for Congress to immediately pass legislation that will revoke taxpayer-funded retirement benefits for any future Representative or Senator convicted of a felony, during or after time in office.
Here’s Nancy’s chance to do something meaningful right off the bat. It makes sense, it would have popular support, and it would make it look like she’s putting her money where her mouth is which so far she’s not and looking bad because of it.
Two predictions regarding this issue you’ll hear first on this blog:
- Nancy Pelosi will NOT submit said legislation.
- William Jefferson will NOT vote for it if she did.
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