Remember the grousing around Lake County back around the beginning of 2010 when school superintendents at Madison and Chester resigned, then got rehired so they could start collecting retirement benefits while still taking their salaries before the Legislature nixed that practice?
Those of you who took umbrage at such "double-dipping" will need to rethink your support for GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry (and surprisingly, there are still a few of you). He boosted his $150K salary by $90K last January by official retiring from Texas state government. Says lifelong public servant Perry:
"That's a program that's been in place for decades as far as I know," he said at a coffee shop. "I would be surprised why someone would not take a retirement they were eligible for. That's just kind of good estate planning in my opinion" [Maria Recio, "Perry Drawing Five-Figure Retirement Pay from Texas," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2011.12.16].
The Texas Tribune's Jay Root notes that Perry is also eligible for Social Security and "lifetime, state-provided health care." Root juxtaposes Perry's benefits with his public statements on such benefits for others:
In his 2010 book Fed Up!, and out on the campaign trail, entitlement programs and government-mandated health care are among Perry's
favorite targets."I do advocate totally rethinking the safety net, personal security programs completely," Perry said in a November 2010 interview. "Why is the government collecting your tax money for retirement and health care programs? That's not a stated constitutional role."
In his most ambitious policy prescription so far as a presidential candidate, Perry proposed a partial privatization of Social Security for future retirees, changes that would not affect the federal benefits he will receive [Jay Root, "Perry 'Retires' to Boost Pension Pay," Texas Tribune, 2011.12.16].
Ah, consistency.
Rick Perry is John Thune with a bad name for a ranch and no law degree.
as i've said before, perry is a political %&#$sucker.