Pension Double Dipping Report - The Wall Street Journal

CoDnogurbelses-DioinpaplePrsenCsluiobn Over 100 MeAmll Abet rTsaoxfpCayoenrgsr'eEsxspGenestePaid Twice-

May Report By

2014 Carl DeMaio

Congressional Double Dippers Club Report

2014 Hall of Shame Awards

The Mega--Rich Dipper Rep. Scott Peters

Rep. Scott Peters is a multi--millionaire and the 6th wealthiest member of Congress.

Despite the fact that the City of San Diego's Pension System is

billions in debt, Peters took his pension early ? and has received over $100,000 since he turned 50.

The Big Dipper Rep. Joyce Beatty

Rep. Joyce Beatty gets the award for receiving the most in taxpayer salary and pension -- taking a whopping $427,000 from the taxpayers, which is more than the President of the United States.

The Triple Dipper Rep. John Garamendi

Rep. John Garamendi gets the award for receiving his salary and multiple government pensions all at the same time. Garamendi's multiple

government pensions tally up to over $88,800 a year. It's hard to be a double--dipper, but even harder to be a triple and quadruple dipper!

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 2

What is a "Double--Dipper"?

Double Dippers: government employees who draw a paycheck from the taxpayers at the same time they draw a government pension. Members of Congress receive $174,000 a year from the taxpayers, but 102 of them also take a second taxpayer-- funded allowance in the form of a government pension.1

Double dipping forces taxpayers to pay twice ? once for their pensions, another for their salaries. The extra cost ? effectively a double payout for politicians, is particularly egregious given how generous their salaries already are.

"It's wrong," says Carl DeMaio. "A pension system is intended to support you at a time you are no longer working. When you are a Member of Congress and already making a lavish salary, you should not be able to tap into both."

Who is Double Dipping?

Over one hundred other Members of Congress currently double--dip at taxpayer expense. Some of the double dippers are particularly egregious and have made it into the Hall of Shame. For example, Rep. Joyce Beatty is a double dipping and now makes more money than the President ? taking in a whopping $427,000!

Rep. Scott Peters is also an egregious example of double dipping. Scott Peters is a multi--millionaire who ranks as the 6th richest Member of Congress.

Not content with his millions, Scott Peters opted to take a government pension early ? and has received over $100,000 since he turned 50.

These so--called double--dippers are both Republicans and Democrats, Senators and Congressman, and many are in positions of leadership. The only commonality is their desire to help themselves to as much taxpayer money as possible.

1 For the purpose of this report, we excluded any pension derived from military service.

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 3

Why is Double Dipping Wrong?

No one should get rich off public service ? and Members of Congress are already

well paid and should not be padding their earnings at taxpayers' expense.

The fact that most government pension systems are in severe financial distress

raises an additional problem with the practice of double dipping.

For example, Rep. Scott Peters was a member of the San Diego City Council

responsible for the city becoming known as "Enron by the Sea" largely for his

decision to spike pensions while illegally underfunding the city pension system.

Members of Congress like Scott Peters who double--dip on these government

pensions only deepen the structural problems these pension systems face.

"If fleecing the taxpayer twice wasn't bad enough, politicians like Scott Peters

are drawing from pensions already under--funded to the tune of trillions of

dollars -- money the public eventually will have to make up." ? Carl DeMaio

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 4

Carl DeMaio's Plan to End Double--Dipping

By Members of Congress:

Carl DeMaio authored the landmark San Diego Pension Reform Initiative and

successfully led the campaign to implement his ambitious reform package. Now

DeMaio is proposing to take Pension Reform to the national level ? starting with

major reforms to the pensions received by Members of Congress.

Step 1: End the Congressional Double Dippers Club

DeMaio's plan would deduct the amount of any government pension from the

regular salary of a Member of Congress. This would ensure that no Member of

Congress is paid twice from the taxpayer.

Step 2: Scrap Congressional Pensions

DeMaio also proposes to eliminate the lavish Congressional Pension Program and

replace it with Social Security and a 401(k) contribution benchmarked to the

average contribution received by workers in each Member's district.

"I'm running to reform Congress because I believe that elected officials

entrusted with taxpayer dollars should be safeguarding those funds rather than

personally enriching themselves." ? Carl DeMaio

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 5

THE LIST OF DOUBLE DIPPERS

102 Members of Congress Who Are Double--Dipping At Taxpayers' Expense

Barber, Ron

D Arizona-02

Beatty, Joyce

D Ohio-03

Bishop, Rob Bishop, Sanford

R Utah-01 D Georgia-02

Blackburn, Marsha

Blumenauer, Earl

R Tennessee-07 D Oregon-03

Blumenthal, Richard Blunt, Roy Boxer, Barbara

D Connecticut Senate

R Missouri Senate D California Senate

Brady, Robert A D Pennsylvania-01

$48,942 $253,323 $29,276 $6,397 $4,299 $37,884 $47,080 $36,721 $4,445 $8,727

Arizona Retired System Defined Benefit Ohio Public Employees Retirement System Utah State Retirement System Georgia Legislative Retirement System Tennessee Legislative Pension

Oregon Public Employee Retirement System Connecticut Retirement Division

State of Missouri Marin County Employees Retirement Assoc City of Philadelphia, PA

Butterfield, G K Capps, Lois Cardin, Ben Carper, Tom

Carter, John Clay, William L Jr Cleaver, Emanuel Clyburn, James

D North Carolina-01 D California-24 D Maryland Senate D Delaware Senate

$55,331 $68,768 $5,627 $33,986

R Texas-31 D Missouri-01

$76,459 $21,090

D Missouri-05

$21,976

D South Carolina-06 $54,834

State of North Carolina Multiple State of Maryland Delaware Pension Defined Benefit Plan Texas Judicial Retirement System Missouri State Employees Retirement Sys Kansas City, MO Pension Plan

South Carolina Retirement System

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 6

E Coffman, Mike Cohen, Steve

R Colorado-06 D Tennessee-09

$55,547 State of Colorado $23,129 Tennessee Legislative Pension

Cook, Paul Cornyn, John Costa, Jim Crenshaw, Ander Cuellar, Henry

R California-08 R Texas Senate D California-16 R Florida-04 D Texas-28

Culberson, John Cummings, Elijah E Dent, Charlie

R Texas-07 D Maryland=07

R Pennsylvania-15

Enyart, William Eshoo, Anna

D Illinois-12 D California-18

$40,695 $65,383 $11,205 $13,168 $38,563

$26,984 $15,950

$16,439

$9,489 $11,728

Multiple Multiple Multiple State of Florida Texas Employees Retirement System Texas Retirement Annuity Maryland State Employees Pension Plan Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System Multiple County of San Mateo, CA

Farr, Sam

Fattah, Chaka

Feinstein, Dianne Frankel, Lois J Fudge, Marcia L Garamendi, John Gerlach, Jim

Gowdy, Trey

Green, Al Green, Gene

D California-20 D Pennsylvania-02 D California Senate D Florida-22 D Ohio-11 D California-03 R Pennsylvania-06 R South Carolina-04 D Texas-09 D Texas-29

$19,280 $4,586 $54,925 $10,947 $48,000 $88,800

California Public Empl Retirement System

Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System

City & County of San Francisco, CA

State of Florida

Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System

Multiple

$15,400

$7,173

$96,948 $51,862

Pennsylvania Employee Retirement System

SC Judges-Solicitors Retirement System

Texas State County & Retirement

Texas Employees Retirement System

Hall, Ralph M Hanabusa, Colleen

R Texas-04 D Hawaii-01

$65,748 Texas Legislative Pension $22,158 State of Hawaii

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 7

Hastings, Doc

Hirono, Mazie K

Honda, Mike Hoyer, Steny H

Isakson, Johnny

Johnson, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Hank Joyce, David P

R Washington04

D Hawaii Senate

D California-17 D Maryland-05

R Georgia Senate

D Texas-30

$2,469 $46,556 $50,014 $20,481 $8,019 $35,000

Washington Pension

Hawaii Employees Retirement System Multiple Maryland State Retirement Agency Georgia Legislative Retirement System Texas Legislative Pension

D Georgia-04 R Ohio-14

$11,000 $60,000

Dekalb County, GA

Ohio Public Employee Retirement System

Keating, Bill Kildee, Dan King, Angus

D Massachusetts-09 D Michigan-05 I Maine Senate

King, Pete

R New York-02

Lance, Leonard

Landrieu, Mary L

Lowenthal, Alan

Lowey, Nita M

R New Jersey-07 D Louisiana Senate

D California-47

D New York-17

Luetkemeyer, Blaine

Manchin, Joe

R Missouri-03

D West Virginia Senate

$110,743 $53,716 $30,488

$39,000

$23,544 $15,000 $50,000 $46,941

$10,302

$12,600

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Genesee County

Maine Public Employees Retirement System

New York State Employee Retirement Sys

State of New Jersey

Louisiana State Employees Retirement Sys

California Public Employee Retirement System

New York State & Local Retirement

State of Missouri

$48,282 West Virginia Public Employee Retirement System

Marchant, Kenny McCaskill, Claire

McClintock, Tom McDermott, Jim

R Texas-24

D Missouri Senate

R California-04

D Washington07

$36,000 $40,031

$9,579 $5,729

Texas Legislative Pension Missouri Defined Benefit Plan

Multiple Washington Dept of Retirement Systems

2014 Congressional "Double Dippers" Report

Page 8

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download