Free Republic

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.

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn last year supplemented his Senate salary with three public pensions, bringing in some $65,383 in public retirement benefits to add to his $174,000 a year salary for serving as senator. The Texas Republican was elected to the Senate in 2002, and is a former district judge, state Supreme Court justice and state attorney general, reports The National Journal. His largest pension, for $48,807, came through the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, earned while serving on the state Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997. Cornyn, 61, reported another $10,132 in pension benefits from the Employees Retirement...

Sen. John Cornyn has been supplementing his Senate salary for six years with pensions earned from his days as a Texas judge and attorney general – retirement payments that went undisclosed for several years. Cornyn’s most recent annual disclosure statement, filed last month, shows he collected $65,383 from three Texas pension plans in 2012. That’s on top of his $174,000 Senate salary. He drew $48,807 from the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, stemming from service on the Texas Supreme Court from 1990 to 1997, plus $7,645 from the Employees Retirement System of Texas, and $6,444 from the Texas County and...