While millions of Americans are seeing their retirement portfolios evaporating at an alarming rate in this economy? There is more good news. Social security which is literally hanging on by a thread and will go bust in the not too distant future, is being bled by none other than the likes of our vice president.
That's right folks, Old Joe is drawing the pensioner's pension while knocking down some big salary for being the Louisville lip of vice presidents.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced last month that Social Security beneficiaries will get one-time $250 stimulus bonus payments beginning in May.
He didn't mention that he will be one of the recipients.
That's right. The vice president of the United States is drawing social security benefits. A man who has always been in the upper 10% of wage earners in America. A man that last year was paid $169,300 by the tax payers as a US senator and who this year will be paid $227,300 as vice president.
Under social security benefits, Joe Biden will be "entitled" to receive $13,560 in social security benefits this year, having already drawn over $6000 while still a US senator in 2008, prior to becoming the VP. And that doesn't include his Senate pension which he is now collecting to boot. Oh yes, he gets a rather nice little stipend from the American people for his service as a US senator too.
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 Member's of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.
The amount of a Congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.
According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. 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.
Which means, Joe's tenure in the senate, which ran from 1972 to 2008, gave him 36 years of service and qualified him for the 80% of his existing salary as pension. Which puts his pension at over $135,000 a year. That is on top of his $277.000 he is receiving for being vice president and that does not include the over $13,000 he will get in social security benefits.
And just to answer any lingering curiosity? Former vice president Dick Cheney was 67 when he left office and according to his tax returns for 2006-2008? He never attempted to qualify for or attempted to draw social security benefits while in office.
Now ask yourself a simple question. "Who is kidding who when it comes to the better interests of the people and serving the people through their elected offices?"
While Biden and others in the Obama administration have been venting their spleens over the AIG bonuses? I wonder why no one was concerned about our vice president triple dipping his snout at the trough of public money.
Joe Biden is literally a walking paradox and example of how liberals and socialist democrats see the system and their own entitlement to huge slices of the public pie. The same pie that they would like you to believe? Is being raided and corrupted by the so called evil rich. Which every good little liberal democrat socialist knows, can only be conservatives and republicans.
2 comments:
On the oine hand, if he paid into the system he should be able to draw the benefit. On the other hand? If he is making over a half million a year in pay and pension already? Then he certainly doesn't need that money and the appearance of what he is doing by drawing it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Yeah, ain't Joe a hoot.
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