This was posted on Facebook in October of 2011:

Salary of retired US Presidents ………….$450,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate members ……….$174,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of Speaker of the House …………..$223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders …..$193,400 FOR LIFE

Average salary of a soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN - $38,000

Average income for seniors on SOCIAL SECURITY - $12,000

 

This was posted to FB a few days ago.

 

 

Identical.  The problem is, it's highly misleading.  Presidents make $400,000 and get an added allowance of $50,000 while in office.  When they retire, their pension is based on the current salary of cabinet level officers.  Right now that's just under $200,000 per year.  The figures for other positions are wrong as well.  Pensions for those elected to Congress after 1984 are based on length of service and contributions into the Federal employee retirement system.

 

But let's suppose for a moment that all of the former Presidents, Senators, Congressmen and House/Senate leaders who are retired get $200,000 per year for life.  Is that 1,000 people?  2,000?  Let's say 3,000, which it is nowhere near, but just to prove a point.  $200,000 x 3,000 would equal $600 million per year.  We're making cuts of $85 billion as part of sequestration.  This would amount to less than 1% of the total amount being cut.

 

According to the SSA's latest benefits "snapshot", 40 million Americans are receiving that average benefit of $12,000 per year.  $12,000 x 40,000,000 = $480 billion in spending.  Even if you cut 100% of the amounts being paid to former politicians, it won't come close to making a dent in what's being paid out to Social Security recipients.

 

This is just a bunch of tilting at windmills, and worse yet, it's dishonest tilting.