I received an email that disturbed me and need to pass it along

Justice??
No one has been able to explain to me why young Men and women who serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, only get 50% of their pay at retirement.

While Politicians who hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, receive partial (correction instead of full as the original email stated) pension (original email stated pay which is incorrect) after serving just one term. It just doesn't make any sense.

Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back a large portion ($40k-$60k) of student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add all of this to the below, just where will it stop?

35 States file lawsuit against the Federal government.

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.

For to long we have been complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed, while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from they Health care reform...in all it's forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self serving must stop.
Proposed 28th amendment to the United States Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."

If you think this should be read by other please comment in order for this to return to the top of the post so it doesn't just disappear below new post. Please Bump!

EZ, it is an obscenity.

snopes.com: 28th Amendment (http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/28thamendment.asp)


http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/lawmaker-loopholes/


You're supposed to delete these kind of e-mails....not propagate them

I received an email that disturbed me and need to pass it along.

Justice??
No one has been able to explain to me why young Men and women who serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, only get 50% of their pay at retirement.



At some point around 1985 the rules changed so Military must serve 30 years to retire at 50%. 20 years gets you 30%....

I will look into amending my post after I find the answers to these questions.

What amount of pay is a politician eligible for after serving 1 term?

What amount of student loans are forgiven (not repaid) for family members of Congress? $40k, $60k, ???

snopes.com: 28th Amendment (http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/28thamendment.asp)


Lawmaker Loopholes? | FactCheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/lawmaker-loopholes/)


You're supposed to delete these kind of e-mails....not propagate them


Thanks Dad, congress is still obscene though.

Thanks Dad, congress is still obscene though.

Doesn't answer my questions about how much they can receive after just one term, I have read that if they are 62 and serve 5 years they get a pension although I haven't found the specifics and neither link gives the answer which makes me feel it is more smoke to confuse the populace.

What are the pension packages for politicians?

Doesn't answer my questions about how much they can receive after just one term, I have read that if they are 62 and serve 5 years they get a pension although I haven't found the specifics and neither link gives the answer which makes me feel it is more smoke to confuse the populace.

What are the pension packages for politicians?

Call your local senator and ask.

Doesn't answer my questions about how much they can receive after just one term, I have read that if they are 62 and serve 5 years they get a pension although I haven't found the specifics and neither link gives the answer which makes me feel it is more smoke to confuse the populace.

What are the pension packages for politicians?

They come under the same retirement guidelines as other Federal Employees. It has been this way since 1984.

Here is a link w/ all the info on the FERS System (Federal Employees Retirement System)

Federal Employee CSRS and FERS Annuity Information and Calculator. (http://federalretirement.net/annuity.htm)

Short form answer if I'm not mistaken is 25 Years Service and Age 25 or 20 Years Service and age 60. They get nothing for a single term.

Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

Source:
US Congress Salaries and Benefits – Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members (http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm)

It is a little more complicated than that. Here's more...

As of October 1, 2006, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal
pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. Of this number, 290
had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972.
A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with
service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.

Source:
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

I guess the trick is to get elected at age 56 and hold that post until you reach age 62...then you would get a small pension.

Good Info.....:kewl:

The email was indeed incorrect and I am making corrections as I uncover the truth. I have replaced the word pay with pension in the original post and have also discovered the maximum benefit cannot exceed 80% of a members final pay. I have also changed the word full with partial I am still somewhat disturbed that there is a pension benefit after only 5 years of service. I am trying to decipher order Code RL30631 CRS Report for Congress which seems to have the information I am seeking, although I am not sure I have the intellectual capability to fully understand how it works.
Click on link:
Retirement Benefits for Members of Congress (http://74.6.238.254/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=congressional+pension+plan&fr=yfp-t-701-s&u=http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=congressional+pension+plan&d=4504540434073409&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=97acc885,156d8d7c&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=96ak0uM9fW2h.LAthWyxOQ--)

If you want to put forth correct information then delete everything after this line....

"I received an email that disturbed me and need to pass it along
"

because that whole e-mail is pretty much factually incorrect

Perhaps I should remove the first line because this has started to evolve into my findings and not an email, it's still a work in progress.
I do support the proposed amendment though.

There is no Proposed 28th Amendment suggesting that.....

Not yet

Not yet

There is also no proposed amendment to free congressional members form the bounds of bestiality and incest laws...

yet....:smash:

There is no Proposed 28th Amendment suggesting that.....

There is also no proposed amendment to free congressional members form the bounds of bestiality and incest laws...

yet....:smash:

Are members of Congress exempt from any of the laws they pass?
I honestly do not know but if there are laws that exempts them then an amendment to the constitution should be considered.

Are there exemptions?

Congress used to exempt itself from laws. For instance the OSHA Act did not apply to them. However, the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 changed most of that. You may want to google that and learn about the 12 laws it brought into effect for Congress.Fot the most part they are covered now...but I cannot say for certain becasue there are so many laws. I can say that it appears they still are...and I base this on the way that the last trials for tax evasion were handled. If you or I had done what Charles Rangel had done we woudl be in jail. However, he was "Censured"...

I'm still trying to figure out the percentage of pay they are eligible for after 5 years is it 12.5% (CSRS) or 8.5%(FERS) with (TSP) along with contributions matched by employer up to $15,500 or the first 5%?

Anyway I look at it seems to be outrageous; 5 years service at 62 years of age and you get a pension for life:confused:

Congressional accountability act of 1995 during the Clinton administration thats surprised me, I've got to give him credit.
So far it seems they are exempt from Obamacare and.........???

LOL...Congress created the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) in 1986, and it became effective on January 1, 1987. Since that time, new Federal civilian employees who have retirement coverage are covered by FERS. So, no new employees, including Congress are under CSRS.

Given that, let me try and make some sense of the CSRS. In 5 years you are vested in the 401K (the Government calls it the "Thrift Savings Plan" or TSP). Starting from your first paycheck the government puts 1% of your pay into the plan. That is in addition to anything the employee puts in or any matching that the goverment puts in (there is a formula for matching that I forget the specific details but comes out to about 3% if the employee puts in 5% if memory serves me). If you leave government service before you are vested you keep the money you put in and the matching amount but you lose the 1%.

If you are 62 and have 5 years service you are entitled to a retirement. It is equal to 1% of the high three average annaul salary times the number of credible years service. So...if you work five years and your high three average is $50,000 you would earn roughly 2,500/year as a pension ((50000X.01)X5).
That roughly equals 208 per month before taxes. I can't say that I agree or disagree with the worth of giving a pension in that case. However, that isn't the real cost. The real cost is the cost of health care matching that the government still pays becasue if you have health care for three years before retirement you are eligible to continue coverage. This may not be an issue in the future however.

Hope this helps.

Yes that does help because I am easily confused; which if you have read alot of my post you may already know:uhoh::conf:

Don't worry. It is complicated. Under FERS the pension is smaller becasue they assume the employee now has a 401K to supplement.

Is that the actual wording from the email? :biglaugh:

Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed, while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from they Health care reform...in all it's forms.

And that is just two sentences :smash::jump1:

If they are grandfathered they get thier pensions plus they take thier re-election campaign funds as well. Some have millions of dollars in thier so-called war chests. All they have to do is spend it on politically related bullchit. Most were penniless when elected, see John kerry, now some are gazillionaires.

John Kerry was smart...he married into money with Heinz's wife...

I can tell you the staffers on the Hill are not happy as they were not exempted. I'm not sure what they are exempted from on the health care. I was so disgusted I stopped watching it. I thought they had to comply as well. I do know staffers had to follow whatever their states required so it caused a lot of controversy on the Hill...