Governor and State Legislator Retirement Benefits
Governors and State Legislators Clean Up With Pensions and Other Benefits
Most people have probably heard the rumor that U.S. Congress members can retire after just one term and get their full salaries and benefits including a Cadillac health insurance benefit for the rest of their lives.
My hub “The Truth About Congress Members Pensions,” pretty well debunked those ideas, but here is the real issue that voters should be upset about. It is not U.S. legislators or the president who are cleaning up on pensions and benefits after they leave office – although they still do far better than most average taxpayers. It is the state legislators and governors, in many states, who make out like bandits – maybe that was a bad comparison . . .
Every state manages their own finances and every state has a different pension plan and benefits program for it’s elected and appointed officials, and their hired employees. In this article I will explain what the retirement benefits are for elected officials in five different states.
There simply is not space to list all the different plans every state has for their retired elected officials, and other employees, and every state is different. Some have big differences while others may have small differences compared to each other, but if you see what is happening in the five states I have chosen, it may give you an idea of things that may be happening in your own state (if yours is not one of the five reported on here) regarding pensions for retired state officials.
The five states I have chosen to highlight in this article regarding their retirement situation for their elected and appointed officials and their hired employees are Texas, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Colorado, and California. I chose these five states because I have lived in every one of them at different times for at least a year or two, sometimes longer.
As it turns out, two of them are red states, two are blue states, and one is a swing state (purple). I don’t know if the political party in power in these particular states makes any difference in regard to their pensions and other retirement benefits programs for their state’s employees, since most of these plans are long term and most were put in place several years ago. It probably does not matter which party is in power in a state, but it is something to keep in the back of one’s mind.
Double Dipping
One of the reasons so many government workers in some states are making out so well with their retirement is because they are double dipping. So let me explain what ‘double dipping’ means for any of my readers who may not be familiar with that phrase.
Someone who retires from their government job and then comes back to work for their own state or local government, or for a different state or local government, often in the same job they had before ‘retiring,’ or sometimes in a new capacity, and then gets paid both their retirement and a wage or salary from the government, is double dipping. This applies to all state workers whether elected, appointed, or hired. Some teachers, judges, legislators, and other types of state workers are all doing this (double dipping) right now, and it is costing taxpayers dearly.
What these people are doing is barely legal, but extremely unethical. Gaming the system in this manner puts the retirement funds of all workers paying into it at risk because it is overburdened. It is violating pension laws and it is costing taxpayers, often unknowingly, millions of additional dollars every year over what it would cost to hire a non-retired employee. As you might imagine, proving that they never intended to retire from their jobs, but did so on paper for a few days essentially to give themselves a raise, is hard to prove.
Many of these people let their managers know when they tender their letter of resignation that they want to come back to work once the required 30-day separation period is over. Doing that is not considered a “good faith termination,” which is generally required by pension laws.
By letting their managers know they want to come back after the 30-day separation period, they are basically saying they do not really want to retire nor do they intend to retire. They are simply resigning as a formality to give themselves a raise. If their retirement is discovered to not be a ‘good faith termination,’ and therefore violates pension laws, there could be legal repercussions for them.
Some states are trying to pass laws to reduce or prevent double dipping, but as you might imagine, getting legislators to vote for themselves to have a tougher time double dipping is not popular.
Eric Litke writing for the Stevens Point Journal.com, reports that a new Wisconsin law that took affect in July 2013 is attempting to reign in the abuses of double dipping in that state. Now retirees must wait a minimum of 75 days (up from 30) before they can be rehired and then they can only work for a third of the usual hours (1392 hours max for the year) the particular job they take normally requires. The new law does not address double dipping over state lines, however.
Litke gives many examples. I recommend anyone who is interested in double dipping in Wisconsin read his article: (http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20140201/SPJ019803/302010162/Some-Wisconsin-school-administrators-collect-both-pension-salary)
There is a lot of money involved in the practice of double dipping and the following examples are only focusing on school administrators. If school administrators are cleaning up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, what are legislators and judges getting?
Litke gives the examples of 2 school administrators who are receiving pensions from other states while receiving salaries in Wisconsin. Kathleen Williams of Wausau Wisconsin tops the list receiving $157.994 in a salary from Wausau and a pension from the state of Illinois in the amount of $183.043 totaling $341.037 a year.
Attila Weninger of Stevens Point Wisconsin receives a salary of $155,500 from the Stevens Point School District and a pension from Illinois in the amount of 180,302 totaling $335, 802 a year.
These are examples of how double dipping works and how it benefits those who are doing the double dipping and how it costs taxpayers big bucks. Wisconsin is by no means the only state where this is happening. (See more on Wisconsin below.)
For more information on double dipping and on politics in general:
Watchdog.org
http://watchdog.org/64675/audit-finds-public-double-dipping-a-plenty-in-wisconsin/
California State House

Dianne Feinstein

You Might Be Interested . . .
Eighty-two-year old Diane Feinstein (Democrat) served 10 years as mayor of San Francisco, and 9 years as a San Francisco Supervisor before being elected to her current seat in the Senate in 1992.
Ms. Feinstein has received about 850,000 in retirement benefits over the past 20 years along with her Congressional salary (currently 174,000 per year, plus a yearly allowance for her office,) and other benefits. She is reportedly worth somewhere between 42.8 and 98.7 million dollars, (watchdog.org).
California
Pensions for California legislators are based on number of years of service and their salary while serving. No legislator can collect more than 2/3 of his or her final salary.
There is also a death benefit paid to specified beneficiaries or survivors if a currently serving legislator or a retired former legislator dies.
For the governor and lieutenant governor, pension benefits are figured at 5% per year up to 8 years or 40% of their final salary. If they serve for 24 years or longer it is 60% of their final salary. The retirement age is 60. If a governor or lieutenant governor chooses to retire before age 60 their benefit is reduced by 2%.
Legislators and governors, etc., must have served at least 4 years and attained the age of 55 before they can retire. If the governor or lieutenant governor would choose to retire at any age prior to 55, they would be required to have served at least 20 years.
Healthcare benefits will be the same for legislators, and the governor and lieutenant governor and all other constitutional officers in keeping with The Affordable Care Act better known to some people as ObamaCare.
There is also disability coverage for all elected and appointed officials.
For further information copy and paste the URL below into your browser:
http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/member/retirement/serviceretireoverview.xml
California Voters Believed They Ended Pensions for State Legislators in 1990, but Did They?
The Legislative Analyst’s Office states, ”Voters Ended State Pension Benefits for State Legislators. Proposition 140 (1990) prohibits accrual of state retirement benefits by Members of the Legislature first elected on or after November 7, 1990. The Legislators’ Retirement System (LRS)—managed by CalPERS—remains to administer benefits for (1) Members of the Legislature first elected prior to this date, (2) state elected officials (except judges) who elect to join LRS, and (3) four legislative statutory officer positions listed in Section 9350.55 of the Government Code. Judges are in two separate CalPERS-managed systems, the benefits for which were reduced for judges elected or appointed on or after November 9, 1994.”
The above statement seems clear to this writer that not everyone taking office in the California legislature or the California governor’s office, as well as some other positions, have been effected by the above law even though they took their office post November 7, 1990.
The Orange County Register says current governor “Brown [Jerry] and a handful of other top officials are eligible for generous benefits under a special pension fund so obscure that few people in government know how it works and many thought it had been eliminated 20 years ago by outraged voters.”
“Founded in 1947, LRS was established by the California State Legislature as a special pension system to serve . . . members of the California State Legislature. Later, it was expanded a little to include constitutional officers, like the governor and attorney general, as well as four unelected legislative statutory officers who hold special responsibilities at the State Capitol,” (The Orange County Register).
Many people believe Prop. 140 was the end of LRS. “But Prop. 140 didn’t kill LRS, it merely shrunk it. Today, LRS membership is open only to the state’s eight constitutional officers, the four members of the Board of Equalization, the four legislative statutory officers and lawmakers first elected to the Legislature prior to 1990, who are grandfathered in,” (The Orange County Register).
So apparently Prop. 140 did not end all pensions for California elected officials, including some members of the legislature. Please reference the URLs below — copy and paste them into your browser for more information on this issue.
Legislative Analyst Office
http://www.lao.ca.gov/handouts/state_admin/2012/Pension_Benefit_Policy_4_13_12.pdf
Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/2010/08/13/the-mystery-of-jerry-browns-pension/
Colorado State House

Colorado
The most recent information I could find on the Colorado retirement plan for elected and appointed officials, and hired employees, is from 2006 and there have been some changes since then.
Retirees have had their benefits cut. Not just future retirees, but also current retirees have, and are experiencing, benefits cuts. Colorado is struggling to get their retirement plans solvent over the long run.
Employees of the state of Colorado, including elected officials, who were hired or took office after July 1, 2005, become vested after 5 years of service.
Employees and elected officials can retire at age 50 if they have provided 30 years of service. They can retire at age 60 with 20 years of service, or at 65 with 5 to 19 years of service.
Employees and elected officials who have provided 35 or more years of service can retire regardless of their age. There are other requirements for persons who desire to take early retirement.
Retired Colorado official’s monthly benefits are calculated by determining the highest average salary where contributions to the retirement plan were made for 3 periods of 12 consecutive months of service for each period. When that number is arrived at, it is halved and that is the benefit that retirees receive.
After 5 years of service, if a member of the Colorado Legislature should become permanently disabled, they may be eligible for benefits. If a member dies before retirement age is attained, their spouse or eligible children under age 23 may receive benefits.
Colorado state employees, including elected officials, contribute 8% of their salaries or wages to their retirement accounts. The state contributes 10.5%. In some cases where the retirement benefit is dependent on the job classification, the state may pay an additional 5%.
More Information on Colorado State Retirement Plans
List of salaries and recent benefits and benefit cuts to Colorado state employees: Copy and paste the following URL into your browser for more information . . .
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Colorado_state_government_salary
Explanation of all benefits available to all Colorado state employees
http://www.leg.state.co.us/OSA/coauditor1.nsf/All/6EAC64CA12B6DB7387257296006753E9/$FILE/1828%20Defined%20Contr%20Ret%20Plan%20June%2006%20rel%20Mar%2007.pdf
Massachusetts State House

Massachusetts
Massachusetts seems different than the other states I looked at, unless I missed something in the others. Massachusetts actually adds to pensions of legislators or other Massachusetts government officials when they perform voluntary administrative work. There is no paycheck for the work itself. It is a volunteer position, but there is a pension for people who do it. Jobs like sitting on the board of a hospital or library.
Both elected and appointed officials have added anywhere from 4,000 to 16,000 dollars a year for life to their pensions by adding their years of volunteer service into the years they served in the legislature. They need only to serve for a single day in a year to count that as one full year of service!
Currently, according to masslive.com, the state of Massachusetts pays out more than 1.2 Billion dollars in pensions even as some of the people collecting them are cutting programs for citizens. At least 106 retired employees are receiving $100,000 a year or more in pensions as of this writing.
There is no minimum age or minimum number of years of service a former legislator must serve in order to collect his or her pension. Several former legislators have started collecting their pensions sometime during their 40th decade.
Both Republicans and Democrats have, and continue to take advantage of the current pension laws in Massachusetts. The current governor, Democrat Deval L. Patrick (Democrat) is pushing for reforms, and he has reportedly signed at least 3 bills into law over the past 3 years that will save Massachusetts taxpayers millions of dollars. However, even though the retirement benefits reforms will save over the long run, there will likely be no major changes in the near future. Most major changes will not affect current retirees or current office holders. It will be 20 to 30 years before change is noticeable. In the meantime Massachusetts, like most states, is struggling with the current economic situation.
Currently, the governor of Massachusetts is paid $135,000 a year and the lieutenant governor is paid $120,000 a year.
Nan East, writing on eHow reports: Massachusetts is one of only 10 states in the U.S. that has a full-time legislature. The base salary for all Massachusetts legislators is $61, 440 a year. Leadership positions pay more. For example, the Speaker of the Massachusetts House is paid an additional $35,000 a year over his or her regular base salary. There is also a $600 a month expense account per legislator as well as additional bonuses, tax breaks, and benefits for various reasons. Most Massachusetts legislators make at least 75,000 a year after everything available to them is added in.
In 1998 voters passed an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution tying legislator’s pay to the average Massachusetts household income, which has enabled legislators, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, and other state officials to receive raises automatically, without any politician’s involvement and without informing the public that raises were being given, on a regular basis. Massachusetts’ legislator’s pay is reviewed and reset every two years. For more details on this subject, check out the references posted at the end of this section.
For more information:
The Enterprise
http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x459331232/OUR-OPINION-Legislators-pay-cut-long-overdue
MA House of Representatives average salaries
http://www.ehow.com/info_7748183_average-salary-massachusetts-house-representatives.html
Masslive.com
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/mass_legislators_plan_to_refor.html
State Budget Solutions
http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org/publications/detail/governor-patrick-signs-pension-reform-legislation-saving-ma-5-billion
Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/pension_abuse/
Commonwealthmagazine.org
http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Departments/State-of-the-States/2010/Fall/Legislative-pay.aspx
Texas State House

Ralph Hall

Ralph Hall, Like Rick Perry, Is Cleaning Up by Double Dipping
Ninety-two-year-old Ralph Hall, the oldest member of the federal House of Representatives first elected in 1980 from the 4th District in Texas served in the Texas legislature for 10 years before being elected to his current seat in the House.
In the 32 years since becoming a member of the House of Representatives in Washington D. C., Hall has collected 1.3 million dollars in retirement benefits in addition to his salary.
(watchdog.org)
Texas
Something a lot of people, including a lot of Texans probably do not know is that the Texas Legislature only meets every other year. That is correct, once every two years. They meet on every odd numbered year on the second Tuesday of January.
The Texas Legislature meets once every two years in Austin, the Capitol of Texas, and each legislative session is limited by the Texas Constitution, to 140 days. The governor of Texas, and only the governor, can order a special session that extends beyond the 140 days, as he (Rick Perry since 2000) did recently in order to pass limitations on abortion.
The short sessions that take place every other year should be remembered when considering that state legislators have linked their pensions to the salaries of state district judges who work every year for a lot more than a 140 days in most cases. By linking their pensions to the state judge’s salaries, legislators receive a raise in their pension benefits every time judges receive a salary increase (Odessa American).
That is not all. Legislator’s pensions can equal as much as 100% of a state district judge’s salary. Republican Tom Craddick will receive $125,000 a year when he retires from the Texas State Senate -- unless legislators decide to increase judge’s salaries even more before Craddick retires. In fairness, Craddick has held his office for 44 years. However, almost 60 legislators will receive more than 40,000 a year when they retire. Current salary for legislators in Texas is $7,200.00 a year (not every other year) plus other benefits. Keep in mind, the governor and legislators barely work for 140 days every other year.
Generally most people have to actually retire from their job before they can collect their pensions. Not so with many lawmakers all over this country – see double dipping above.
The current governor of Texas, Rick Perry (Republican), receives a salary of $150,000 a year, and on top of that, a pension of another $92,000. It is all perfectly legal, but perhaps one can see how it is the individual state laws, rather than the federal laws, that allow politicians to clean up.
Rick Perry is expected to run for president in 2016. If he should win the election, he will receive his retirement of $92,000 from when he served in the Texas legislature, plus an additional retirement benefit for his years served as governor, plus his salary as president. Even as Governor Perry is receiving $242,000 in salary and retirement from the state of Texas, he is denying his constituents medical care that would be paid for by the federal government.
For more information:
Wikipedia.Org on the Texas Legislature
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legislature
TexasWatchdog.org
http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2011/09/state-lawmakers-find-clever-ways-to-boost-their-pensions-texas-legislators/1317054408.column
Odessa American of Odessa TX : Texas State Legislator’s Shady Pay Raise
http://www.oaoa.com/editorial/views/texas_opinion/article_4048637c-ca3e-11e2-b6a7-0019bb30f31a.html
TX Gov Perry’s situation
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/us/politics/perrys-on-the-job-retirement-lifts-pension-perk-from-shadows.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Washington Post on Rick Perry
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-12-16/politics/35286595_1_rick-perry-perry-campaign-spokesman-retirement-benefits
Wisconsin State House

Jim Sensenbrenner

You might be interested . . .
Jim Sensenbrenner, 70-two-year-old member of the U.S. House of Representatives has received nearly $100,000 in pension benefits since 2008 in addition to his salary ($174,000 plus perks) as a representative from Wisconsin’s 5th District. His Wisconsin pension is estimated to be around $30,000 in addition to his salary for serving in the U.S. House. Sensenbrenner’s estimated wealth is between 13.4-18.98 million dollars.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds has provided the following information regarding pensions and benefits paid to Wisconsin state workers.
For a state employee to receive retirement benefits they must first of all be vested, meaning (in the case of Wisconsin state employees) that they have worked as a permanent Wisconsin state employee for at least 8 years.
Previously only 5 years of service were required to be vested and so some elected officials who came in before the change that now requires 8 years of service, will be able to receive pensions with less service if that is applicable to their situation. Some are already collecting retirement benefits from the state of Wisconsin while also collecting salaries as members of the U.S. Congress
Another requirement of Wisconsin state government retirees is that she or he must be at least 55 years old. There are a few state workers who are allowed to collect benefits at age 50 and that is because of the category of work they have done, however, most employees must be at least 55.
The usual retirement age for elected employees is 62.
For more information:
Wisconsin State Journal
http://host.madison.com/news/local/ask/footnote/footnote-what-health-and-retirement-benefits-do-the-governor-and/article_0f32d940-3ba5-11e0-a5d7-001cc4c002e0.html
Calculating Your WI Benefits
http://etf.wi.gov/publications/et4107.pdf
Story about Tom Petri and 3 others double dipping
http://wauwatosa.patch.com/groups/wisconsin-reporter---wauwatosa/p/packing-on-the-pensions-wi-reps-collect-state-retirement-on-the-federal-dime_b6806e19
Three more WI Congressmen Double Dipping
http://watchdog.org/98511/packing-on-the-pensions-wi-reps-collect-state-retirement-on-the-federal-dime/
Questions & Answers
© 2014 C E Clark
Comments
Legislative pensions are being phased out. Since 1990, there is no pension for CA legislators. Those who accrued time before 1990 will still receive benefits for that prior service.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 4 LEGISLATIVE SEC. 4.5.
First off, it is not feasible for you to lump Texas teachers in a category as double dippers right out of the chute in your article. Every dime paid into Texas Teacher retirement is paid by the individual. Second Texas, with the exception of (I am sure) not more than 3 districts who chose to pay differently, do not pay in to Social Security. The retirement check a retired teacher receives is based on their contribution plus interest earned. Earned interest that comes from good investment practices. The average Texas teacher receives about $2,000. per month. A retired employee--teacher, clerk, groundskeeper, etc. may not return to work at a district for over one calendar year and their are conditions tied to the return. Consider this, someone spent 30 years becoming a dyslexia expert, can work 20 hours a week, because their passion is to help struggling readers, and they do this very well. This same indivi has 30 years of experience and expertise, does not need or receive insurance benefit options and is strictly being compensated for their time, why wouldn't the district hire them. The same district spent 30 years keeping them highly qualified. Your writing is not fully informed. Spend two months from August to the end of September with a teacher and see how hard they work for their "pension." Their self funded retirement is based on the fact that they actually worked all those years!
Hello Au fait, I am with Writer Fox (hope there is no kinship with Faux news) in that I picked the wrong profession. 'But,' I do have an aversion to rolling in the mud.
This is an information packed article, wonderfully done.
Blessings dear friend, hope all is well with you.
The amount of retirement that some government employs receive for short terms is ridicules. As for the double dipping I don't see where it makes much difference if the employee takes another government job or some other job and them someone else takes that government job. The money to the tax payers is the same.
no wonder our country is going broke!
Thank you very much Au fait for sharing a very interesting and revealing hub. As a retired federal employee I am very aware of double dipping which many of my former colleagues are now doing. After they retire, they are hired by contractors which the government has and basically do the same kind of work they did before retirement. These retirees are not allowed to work full time for the contractors. The government justifies this double dipping by pointing out the retirees have experience which the government needs and can't get enough of from younger employees. I am sharing this hub with HP followers and on Facebook.
This is informative. Oh, those double dippers! I had read some about this practice before, now I understand it well. Thank you, Au fait.
Best wishes in 2016...its an interesting one so far.
The pay of a governor, etc. should be linked to how well the state is doing. Making this kind of money when the state is hurting is sinful. This is an important topic of which more people need to be made aware. Voted up!
This needs to be shared again, and again, so I am here to do that.
I hope all is well with you.
Blessings and hugs.
Gosh I was unaware of the huge sums- especially the double dipping- I wonder what benefits the office cleaner gets on retirement- I guess it is nothing like this
It is so sad, I think is the best word I can think of, that folks who may or may not serve their state well can walk away with a huge package in the end.
It kills me when I look at Florida and see how top heavy the government offices are in Tallahassee and see how little they want to pay teachers. (Scott has just come up with a suggestion that all beginning teachers be paid fifty thousand to begin their career; I am not sure what his motive is in doing so. I am not a fan of his but that is another story.)
Thank you Aufait for being our Watchperson (did not want to call you a watch dog) ...everyone needs to know and be aware.
Voted up ++++ shared g+ tweeted
With newly elected congressmen getting back to work, voters need to contact them to have these laws changed! Sharing this again and hoping things like this can be ended for good...but not holding my breath!
You might expect this from people who vote their own salaries, benefits, and limitations. I am glad that my congressman Jason Chaffetz uses email instead of USPS mail and fanking privileges. He will head the House Oversight Committee in the next session of Congress.
The retirement benefits for legislators in California, where I live, don't sound too bad. In other places, it seems outrageous. Thanks for this informative article!
I am going to give this a tweet and another share. Perhaps people will give this some thought when they go to vote in the mid-term elections. We can hope, can't we!
Wow, learned a great deal and shocking but so true thanks for sharing this hub and information. Voted up +
This happens in a capitalist structure under democracy. One can't get away from it, unless there is a revolution. Nice hub
Au fait, just in case you do mind I put my response in a separate comment box.
To: Jaye Wisdom the Greed Old P***** by hook and by crook got control of this state and they have made enough money to buy the State Supreme Court Justices and U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
Keep on Ranting, I am happy you are on the right "i.e. Correct" side of politics.
To: Writer Fox money wise you may have chosen the wrong profession. But morally you must have done the right thing and chose the right profession.
To: Peggy W. you are right it is not fair for the Greed Old P***** to pick on the meteorologists for disagreeing with them.
Thumb -up UAI and shared.
Blessings and thank you again for writing this
Shyron
Au fait, I came back to re-read this and then I read some more of our fellow hubber's comments. I hope you don't mind if I respond to a few.
Not fair to pick on the meteoroligists Au fait! Ha! I did like your comparison however. Since so many states run deficits, I would think that sooner or later some of these rules would be changed. Of course the politicians in power do not want to make any changes affecting their own feathered nests...and so it goes!
I can actually understand retiring from one job after 20 or 30 years and drawing a pension and then getting another job. Many of our military personnel do that. However, "retiring" for only a month or two and being rehired and then drawing ANOTHER pension in time for doing the exact same job is just plain wrong and should be stopped.
No wonder our politicians spend so much money to get elected to an office! You should link this to your other related hubs.
Up votes, sharing and pinning. Not sure what happened to my other comment?
Most people who work in private industry or even the military cannot get retirement benefits without having to work more years than our elected congressmen on average. If they had to abide by the same rules as most of the rest of us, they might work harder for our interests. It is no wonder they fight so hard to get elected! What a deal they have! Not good! Pinning and sharing.
Au fait, I am with word55 on this one. This is fantastic research and reporting, I was aware that this went on even at town levels, it is going on. And just like Bill (billybuc) it makes me angry, that I am powerless to do anything about this except to vote against the people who are doing wrong and that is what I will do.
Blessings to you my dear friend.
Boy did I pick the wrong line of work! It's amazing that these are the retirement figures. With so many US retirees subsisting solely on low Social Security payments, it's really shocking that the people who are supposed to represent the citizens have done a much better job of feathering their own nests instead.
Au fait - This is a well-researched hub, the findings of which make me want to throw up! (Not your fault.)
I live in a state that's been 'governed' by a string of worthless governors, lt. governors and, for the most part, senators and represenatives--only one of whom is 'worth is salt' and only one good governor since I returned here in 1996. I use the term 'governed' sarcastically, since these politicians' actions keep Mississippi the poorest in the union with the majority of its citizens suffering needlessly, especially since the current governor opposed enhancement of Mediaid benefits in response to the healthcare act.
The fact that these harmful politicians reap any rewards whatsoever after leaving office truly makes me nauseated. This state's previous governor was a former insurance industry lobbyist who claimed he divested his interests in that firm, but I feel certain he just covered it up, so he was raking in $$$ from numerous avenues while faking a strong southern accent and 'aw shucks, good ol' boy' behavior in public after many years in D.C.
As for Texas, I lived there when Ann Richards was elected governor. She had an unholy mess to clean up after Clements, and, of course, the good ol' boys' club took over the state again when Papa Bush and his wealthy cohorts bought the governorship for W, who went on to become an infamous president with an election that was actually stolen for him.
Sorry about the rant, but I couldn't rein myself in!
Excellent hub. Rated Up++
Jaye
Many years ago I found this shocking. Today, not so much shocking as pissed. I am so fed up with politicians and their money-grabbing ways that I just see red when I think of them...and this article didn't help my vision at all. :) I'll be seeing red all day now.
Thank you Au fait, for exposing these greedy people. They don't seem to leave "well enough alone." They shall reap what they sow. God sees all evil. Vengeance is His. Have a blessed day, dear heart.
Hi: Another of your excellent articles. Same crap going on here.
Boasting of your honors is infra dig.
Bob
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