Posted on 02/21/2014 9:06:46 AM PST by jimbo123
A dozen members of the Texas congressional delegation reaped state retirement benefits while collecting their federal paychecks over the last two years — a much higher rate than other states’ lawmakers.
Thirty-five percent of the 34-member delegation reported dipping into state pension funds in 2012 or 2011, according to recently filed financial disclosure forms. That is nearly twice the one-fifth of all members of Congress members who reported drawing public retirement benefits last year, according to an analysis by the National Journal released Friday.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn dipped into three retirement funds in 2010 — more than any other member of the Senate. He reported one of them this year for the first time, despite tapping into it since 2006.
In his first public comments since updating his disclosure forms, Cornyn said in a conference call with reporters last week that the delayed disclosures were an “oversight.”
He declined to elaborate and when asked to respond to criticism about “double-dipping,” the San Antonio Republican quipped, “I don’t think my microphone’s working, I said that’s all I have for you on that.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.chron.com ...
I have a good idea the judge won't buy it.
Sen. Cornyn Reveals Not One, Not Two, but Three Public
Pensions Atop His Congressional Salary, By Shane Goldmacher
(NOTE: plus taxpayers pay ALL of his living expenses including his healthcare)
The Texas Republican earned $65,383 in retirement benefits last year; and he amended his disclosure statement to show he's been collecting one pension since 2006.
Texas Republican John Cornyn supplemented his Senate salary with a trio of public pensions last year from his days as a Texas judge and elected official—a practice some fiscal watchdog groups have attacked as “double dipping.”
Cornyn, who is the minority whip and the No. 2 ranking Republican in the Senate, reported collecting $65,383 in public retirement benefits in 2012 in addition to his $174,000 salary as a U.S. senator. Cornyn’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Elected to the US Senate in 2002, Cornyn is a former district judge, Texas Supreme Court justice, and state attorney general. In 2012, he collected pensions from three separate state retirement programs.
The biggest of Cornyn’s pensions—$48,807— is from the Judicial Retirement System of Texas. He served on the state Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997.
He reported another $10,132 in retirement benefits last year from the Employees Retirement System of Texas—the pension fund for state elected officials and workers. Cornyn served as Texas attorney general from 1999 to 2002.
In a series of financial-disclosure amendments that he began filing last July, Cornyn disclosed that he had actually been collecting that $10,132 annual pension as far back as 2006. He had not listed it on his original disclosure reports from 2006 to 2010.
Cornyn also reported a $6,444 retirement distribution from the Texas County and District Retirement System. He was a state district judge from 1985 to 1989, according to his official bio, when the governor appointed him presiding judge for the Fourth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, where he oversaw judicial administration for a 22-county region.
Cornyn, 61, is not the first or only prominent Texas Republican to draw both a public pension and a public salary. In December 2011, it was revealed that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was supplementing his $150,000 governor’s salary with a state pension of more than $92,000.“I think it would be rather foolish to not access what you’ve earned,” Perry said in the midst of the 2012 presidential primary.
Cornyn, unlike Perry, is drawing his pensions and salary from different levels of government. His salary is supported by the federal government, while his pensions come from state and local government. Cornyn is up for reelection in 2014.
SOURCE June 18, 2013, edition of NJ Daily. http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/sen-cornyn-reveals-not-one-not-two-but-three-public-pensions-atop-his-salary-20130617
I’m hoping (and voting) he will soon be collecting his 4th pension.
Has anyone found that Cornyn has BROKEN THE LAW with respect to pensions.
No?
So how much of this rumor and smear campaign against Cornyn is a Democrat-led stealth attack to try to steal his “safe” Republican seat.
Alinsky must be so proud that his minions are so skillful at getting patriots into fights against one another.
Not a friggin' chance.
He needs to go. He isn’t a Patriot.
Why do you consider it a rumor when it is part of public record and on his own disclose forms?
Check his posting history,he’s a Republican, not a Conservative. Interesting handle too, don’t ya think?
Audio Here:
http://www.ktrh.com/onair/michael-berry-13986/
McCornyn ads play several times during Michael's program, then Michael come back on-air and plays a McCornyn parody. ... pretty funny.
As long as he is living by the rules of the organizations from which he is drawing ‘pensions’, there should be no issue with Cornyn. The issue lays with the organizations and their rules/policies. If those are public offices, then the public has to raise sufficient stink to get the policies changed.
Just because we don’t like it, doesn’t make it illegal. If the folks responsible for those pensions are angry enough, things will be changed.
Of course Cornyn didn’t show. He was on his way to Austin to pick up his endorsement from the U.S. Chamber of Amnesty.
Is this illegal?
I don’t see why they shouldn’t be able to collect a legally earned retirement benefit.
Agree with your post.
If a Congress person was a military retiree, would collecting that pension make him/her a FR target also?
John Cornyn is drawing 3 Texas pensions and Senate salary and benefits.
When he’s evicted from the Senate, he will be drawing:
3 Texas Pensions
1 Senate Pension
Social Security
Free Healthcare for Life
Cornyn cut military retiree pensions. He should be a target for that too, as well as for triple-dipping from Texas taxpayers.
No. It doesn’t matter. He earned some pensions, and how evil he is to collect them.
The article is funny, comparing the texas congressional class to the remainder of the states, as if there is some illegal activity in texas.
Apparently, texas tends to elect people who were previously in state offices, at a higher rate than other states.
Or it could be that Texas has a more generous retirement system for public employees than some other states.
I think it is absurd how much retirement the typical politician gets after working just a few years. It isn’t a lifetime job, being elected, and it shouldn’t have a full retirement benefit like a job that you work at for 40 years (unless you actually WORK as a representative for 40 years).
But in this case, it is mostly a class warfare attack, one that will work against a whole bunch of conservatives when the time comes, as well as republicans we want to beat.
I collect pensions from 3 different companies.
Social Security
and Medicare
If I somehow was elected to a govt position, I don’t see where it would be wrong to continue to do that.
Don’t you mean he voted for a bill that reduced the rate of cost of living increase for military pensions?
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