Well, in my initial Blog I indicated that our Senators and Congressional Delegates should participate in Social Security and Medicare. Some research that I was finally able to get shows that since 1984, they have participated in both programs.
The following comes from: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm You can read the entire article on that site. For brevity, I am only including the key points here.
You may have read that Members of Congress do not pay into Social Security. Well, that's a myth.
Prior to 1984, neither Members of Congress nor any other federal civil service employee paid Social Security taxes. Of course, they were also not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Members of Congress and other federal employees were instead covered by a separate pension plan called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act required federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. These amendments also required all Members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal workers. The result was the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986.
As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.
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.
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.
So, that takes care of one item that I believed was a very big problem. Sorry that I didn't have this info before I wrote my first Blog this morning--but we live and learn. There are certainly any number of other items that we need to get fixed.
I hope many of you saw the 60 Minutes Program Sunday evening where Steve Kroft exposed the fact that Congressional and Senatorial Members apparently are exempt from insider trading. That show really annoyed me and is one more reason I provide to support my feelings that our Federal elected officials treat themselves as if they are the elite! I won't repeat what Kroft said, but you can go to the CBS site and I'm sure you can replay that show from November 13 to see what goes on because they are apparently exempt from the Insider Trading Laws that govern normal citizens like you and I. While I am sure that many citizens take advantage of insider information, I'm also sure that it is very hard to prove. Of course the kicker here is that our Federal elected officials have apparently given themselves an exemption from this law. I have tried hard to get information concerning their exemptions from laws they pass, but I am having a very difficult time finding anything---sounds to me like something is rotten in this area.
I'll keep plugging away and have additional info as I can substantiate it.
Thanks for Stopping By,
Take Care and Be Well
Sandy
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