Posted on 12/17/2011 2:00:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
..On a campaign swing through Cherokee, Iowa, Perry was asked why the Employee Retirement System should be paying his retirement while he's still collecting a salary.
"That's been in place for decades. ... I don't find that to be out of the ordinary," Perry said of the practice. "ERS called me and said, 'Listen, you're eligible to access your retirement now with your military time and your time and service, and I think you would be rather foolish to not access what you've earned.'"
...The governor's gross annual salary is $150,000; his net salary is $133,000. The net monthly annuity check Perry started receiving Jan. 31 is $7,698. Combined, his net pay from the state is now more than $225,000 annually.
...."As part of his standard financial planning, on Jan. 31, 2011, Gov. Perry began to receive a Texas state employee retirement annuity of $7,698 per month before taxes ($6,588 net)," [Ray] Sullivan said. "The annuity is consistent with Texas state law and Employee Retirement System rules."
'Rule of 80'
Perry, 61, has a long record of state service, having won election as a state House member, state agriculture secretary and lieutenant governor before becoming governor in 2000.
Sullivan cited what's known by state employees as the "rule of 80," which allows state employees to start drawing on their retirement when their age plus years of public service credit totals at least 80.
"The combination of Gov. Perry's U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded the state-required 80 years and qualified him for the annuity," Sullivan said.
Perry continues to pay 6.5 percent withholding tax from his state salary to the state retirement system, the spokesman added.....
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
I'd say it is a pretty sweet deal in Texas. He had some sort of incentive to start drawing. Reports suggest tax planning. He also may have decided to retire to lock in his rate before it decreases if using money purchase calculations.
In the case of Perry, I don't find his total compensation package particularly outrageous for being governor and a career politician even with the double dipping.
There's a very good reason the Founders put that contracts clause in the Constitution.
Here's the deal ~ when you whack away at my retirement (which, for all intents and purposes I actually paid for), that's an EXTRA TAX that you are not applying to everyone else.
You whack at my retirement I get to rob your house, steal your car, loot your bank account and sell your chillun's for slavery in Riyadh.
Right?!
Oh, I wasn't thinking of breaking contracts. I was thinking about a special surtax on Fed retirement benefits. The power to tax is the power to destroy, they say. Or maybe just give you IOU chits.
You whack at my retirement I get to rob your house, steal your car, loot your bank account and sell your chillun's for slavery in Riyadh.
With that sentence one would think a light bulb has popped in your head.
But I doubt it.
Think whatever you think. Your intention is to violate the Constitution itself, and that’s an act of war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.