With all due respect to President John F. Kennedy, it is time to ask what our country can do for us, the taxpaying citizens who are getting the shaft from Congress.
To that point, at least 20 former members of Congress who were convicted of crimes while in office are collecting or will receive an annual taxpayer-funded government pension check, according to the National Taxpayers Union in Alexandria, Va.
These elected officials were convicted of violating the public's trust, and they should have absolutely no right to a retirement check that ironically is being funded by the very people who were betrayed. It is hard to have faith in Congress.
Some lawmakers have picked our pockets, gone to jail and are collecting a pension on the taxpayer's dime.
Meanwhile, other lawmakers have a serious case of apathy. No member of Congress has pushed hard enough to make a convicted legislator lose the right to a taxpayer-funded retirement.
Instead, dating back 10 years, all attempts at pension reform measures have been killed.
It may seem obvious, but it needs to be said: It is time for Congress to pass legislation ending taxpayer-funded pensions for lawmakers who are convicted of felonies, period, end of story.
“The only thing crazier than giving a member of Congress convicted of a crime a federal pension is the fact that we still need a bill to prevent a convict from receiving their pension,” Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said, according to a published report.
He reportedly is pushing for an ethics reform bill on those pension plans for congressional felons. Good luck, Mr. Salazar.
In December, the new congressional leadership dropped proposed reforms to cancel pensions for congressional felons. This year, the House addressed a variety of ethics reforms, including restrictions on lobbying and fund raising.
No action, to date, however, has been taken on pensions for congressional felons.
While Congress continues to do nothing, taxpayers are forced to live with the knowledge that many fat pension checks are being cashed by congressional felons all over this country.
All told, it costs taxpayers about $1 million a year to fund congressional pensions for felons, according to the National Taxpayers Union.
If you are munching on breakfast or lunch while reading this, you may want to stop eating.
Here are some examples of our tax dollars at work:
Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., the former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was sent to prison on charges of keeping “ghost” employees on his payroll and embezzling public funds to buy gifts for friends and family. He was fined, served 15 months in prison and was granted a $126,000 annual federal pension.
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., resigned in November 2005 after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and underreporting his income for 2004. He reportedly used his ill-gotten gains to buy a yacht, a Rolls Royce and a mansion in a Washington suburb.
Mr. Cunningham started serving an eight-year prison sentence in March 2006 and still collects a combined $64,000-a-year congressional and military pension.
Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, was ousted from Congress after being convicted in 2002 for taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering and forcing aides to perform chores on his farm. He is serving an eight-year prison term and continues to receive his $40,000-a-year taxpayer-funded federal pension.
Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, was convicted last year of doing illegal favors for a lobbyist in return for gifts, expensive meals, skybox sports tickets and luxury travel that included a golf vacation to Scotland. When he turns 62 in nine years and becomes eligible, he will receive a $33,000 annual federal pension.
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted this month on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money laundering in a long-running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.
The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Mr. Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years, according to the Department of Justice.
By the way, if convicted, Mr. Jefferson would still be eligible for an annual $40,000-a-year taxpayer-funded federal pension.
One has to wonder what it's going to take for a renewed push among lawmakers to agree on a pension bill that will revoke federal paychecks for convicted members of Congress.
These legislators violated the public's trust and padded their pockets along the way. Funding their pensions just adds insult to injury for taxpayers.
Interestingly, any bill that actually does pass will not be retroactive; therefore, it will have no effect on any current convicted Congressional felons.
For the record, only a conviction of treason or espionage results in forfeiture of a Congressional pension.
While disturbing, it is unfortunately not surprising that Congress is dragging its feet on this key issue.
Is this giving anyone besides me a serious case of agita?
