Free Republic

Germany Looks Like It's Double-Dipping by: The Business Insider January 13, 2010 This is why concern about the euro is becoming so mainstream. Even the healthy powerhouses of Europe -- we're not talking Greece and Ireland here -- are showing signs of instability, or at least weakness. New numbers out of Germany do not look good. Despite strong Q3 growth, total 2009 output plunged 5% in 2009, which means implicitly that Q4 came in worse than expected, according to The New York Times. The statistics agency did not release a figure for the fourth quarter, but economists said the greater-than-expected...

ALBANY — When Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg retired last year, there were no sendoffs, no cakes and no serenades. In fact, no one even knew he had left the Capitol, because he never did. Mr. Weisenberg, 75, a Long Island Democrat, “retired” last year but continued to work as a lawmaker and remained on the payroll. As a result, he earns $101,500 in salary and collects a pension of about $72,000, according to the comptroller’s office. Similarly, Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, a 72-year-old Brooklyn Democrat, retired last year after 31 years, but continued to serve her district. She earns $104,500 and draws...

After Bob Germaine was elected Highlands County Clerk of Courts, he retired in December from his old job, senior director of court services. For the rest of his life, he'll get a check from the Florida Retirement System. In January, as an elected official, Germaine started getting another check from Highlands County. His salary is $112,000 a year. State Sen. Mike Fasano calls that double-dipping, and he's filed SB 1182 to end the practice, which he thinks is costing Florida taxpayers $300 million per year.

More than 425 retired educators return to work in New York school districts every year, obtaining waivers from the city and state Education Departments to allow them to collect paychecks and pensions in what critics have called “double-dipping.” A new state law signed by Gov. David A. Paterson on Friday will tighten government oversight over this longstanding practice, which was intended to help school districts cover hard-to-fill positions with experienced educators but has instead allowed some superintendents and principals to receive six-figure salaries on top of six-figure pensions. The new law requires school districts and public agencies to wait a...

If you ever doubted that the pension benefits of San Diego municipal workers were excessive, consider these simple numbers: A typical firefighter making $75,000 a year can retire at age 55 with a pension of $99,767 – or 133 percent of his highest-year salary. That's right, a worker earning $75,000 can retire with a pension just shy of a hundred grand, along with annual cost-of-living increases, for the rest of his life. The same lavish deal is provided to nonpublic-safety employees, with the only difference being that the worker would have to stay on the job until the advanced age...

A ban on dual office-holding for newly elected officials is part of a bill aimed at cracking down on abusive practices that undermine the financial integrity of the State's benefits system for public employees. It passed the General Assembly yesterday. Sponsor Nellie Pou says, "This only effects and takes affect immediately for anyone running for the very first time in an elective office." Anyone currently holding two public jobs will be able to keep those positions for as long as they want or they continue to be re-elected. Under the measure anyone holding a current office and seeking to run...

Listen up, all you working parents who think you know how to juggle a schedule. You're not even in Nick Sacco's league. Sacco is a state senator from North Bergen. He is also the local mayor. And the assistant superintendent of schools. He earns just over $250,000 a year when all three salaries are bundled, and he'll get a mega-pension to match when his day comes. What's remarkable is that Sacco genuinely seems to believe the good people of North Bergen are lucky to have him in these jobs, even if each job gets only a piece of him. He's...

When they were called up for military service in the wake of 9/11, hundreds of uniformed city workers in the Reserves faced the suspension of their city health and pension benefits. The city offered them an option: it would keep paying their salaries and continue their benefits, but when they returned they would have to repay the city their city salary or their military pay, whichever was less. On its face, the offer made sense. And many reservists had only a few days to get their affairs together before shipping out — hardly enough time to consult accountants. Nearly all...

Crackdown on relief fraud brings more arrests At least 25 have been accused of trying to obtain money that wasn't meant for them By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle At least 25 people have been arrested and accused of attempting to "double dip" and fraudulently receive Hurricane Katrina relief funds from the American Red Cross, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced Friday. The arrests were made Thursday and Friday at St. Agnes Baptist Church, where the Red Cross has been distributing checks and debit cards meant for evacuees, Hurtt said. As of Friday night, misdemeanor and felony charges were...