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Sen. Cornyn Reveals Not One, Not Two, But Three Public Pensions Atop His Salary
National Journal ^ | 06/17/2013 | Shane Goldmacher

Posted on 06/17/2013 3:04:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Texas Republican John Cornyn supplemented his Senate salary with a trio of public pensions last year from his days as a Texas judge and elected official—a practice some fiscal watchdog groups have attacked as “double dipping.”

Cornyn, who is the minority whip and the No. 2 ranking Republican in the Senate, reported collecting $65,383 in public retirement benefits in 2012 in addition to his $174,000 salary as a U.S. senator.

Cornyn’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Elected to the Senate in 2002, Cornyn is a former district judge, Texas Supreme Court justice, and state attorney general. In 2012, he collected pensions from three separate state retirement programs.

The biggest of Cornyn’s pensions—$48,807— is from the Judicial Retirement System of Texas. He served on the state Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997.

He reported another $10,132 in retirement benefits last year from the Employees Retirement System of Texas—the pension fund for state elected officials and workers. Cornyn served as Texas attorney general from 1999 to 2002.

In a series of financial-disclosure amendments that he began filing last July, Cornyn disclosed that he had actually been collecting that $10,132 annual pension as far back as 2006. He had not listed it on his original disclosure reports from 2006 to 2010.

Cornyn also reported a $6,444 retirement distribution from the Texas County and District Retirement System. He was a state district judge from 1985 to 1989, according to his official bio, when the governor appointed him presiding judge for the Fourth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, where he oversaw judicial administration for a 22-county region.

Cornyn, 61, is not the first or only prominent Texas Republican to draw both a public pension and a public salary.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationaljournal.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: cornyn; governmentpensions; johncornyn; pension; pensions; quadrupledip; randsconcerntrolls; senator; texas
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To: SeekAndFind

What laws have been broken?


21 posted on 06/17/2013 3:39:28 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: SeekAndFind

If the pensions are legally obtained then stop yer bitchin’.


22 posted on 06/17/2013 3:46:51 PM PDT by Lion Den Dan
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To: X-spurt

I agree and would go further—it should be changed to the same 401K-type stuff that the rest of the country gets.


23 posted on 06/17/2013 3:50:46 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: patriot08

He accepted it without question, didn’t he?

**************

Are you saying you’d turn it down even if it was legit and done according to the rules and regs?


24 posted on 06/17/2013 3:52:08 PM PDT by deport
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To: SeekAndFind
...when those fighting it are not exactly "clean".

If he hasn't broken the law and played by the rules, how is that not exactly "clean".

That's just how public servants keep their reputations in tack.

25 posted on 06/17/2013 3:54:45 PM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: ZULU

More than that he’s working on a fourth.

**************

I’m sure the 4th is secured. It’s just a matter of the final amount based upon the length of service or whatever they use as the determinate.


26 posted on 06/17/2013 3:55:08 PM PDT by deport
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To: deport

He’s supposed to be above that. Set an example.


27 posted on 06/17/2013 3:56:45 PM PDT by patriot08 (NATIVE TEXAN (girl type))
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To: napscoordinator

No government employee should double and triple dip from taxpayer funds


28 posted on 06/17/2013 3:58:19 PM PDT by SeminoleCounty (Don't Blame Me For La Raza Rubio....I Voted For Alex Snitker)
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To: elephantlips
what's wrong with it is we can't afford to pay people multiple pensions. Pensions should only be given to people who work a lifetime at a job, and no one should receive more than one public pension.
29 posted on 06/17/2013 3:58:55 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: 9YearLurker

Zactly! The balance to draw from should equal the input.


30 posted on 06/17/2013 3:59:16 PM PDT by X-spurt (Republic of Texas, Come and Take It!)
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To: patriot08

So you’d set an example and turn it down.....

LOL until I see actual results.


31 posted on 06/17/2013 3:59:20 PM PDT by deport
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To: SeekAndFind

There’s nothing illegal about Cornyn getting multiple pensions. I think the public pension system should be done away with because over time it becomes a real drain on public finances. I think if you get rid of public pensions and reduce taxation, the American public will have more money to save. In general, I think taxes should be a lot lower, government services be more limited, and people should then be responsible for saving for their own retirements.

Back to Cornyn: He is real squishy on certain issues like immigration. Many Texas republicans are weak in this area. They don’t want to offend a big slice of the Texas electorate by appearing “anti-Mexican”. I think their biggest problem is their inability to articulate why insecure borders is bad for all Texians, both Anglo and those of Mexican ethnicity. Their lack of communications skills and lack of courage on this issue will be their undoing.


32 posted on 06/17/2013 4:06:33 PM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: 3Fingas

change “insecure borders” to “non-secured borders”.


33 posted on 06/17/2013 4:08:13 PM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: SeekAndFind
the POS has it's snout stuffed into the public trough past it's eyeballs...
34 posted on 06/17/2013 4:20:33 PM PDT by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: nickcarraway
But he uses his position in the Senate to further his communist policies

That's totally misleading!

35 posted on 06/17/2013 4:42:45 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: Lion Den Dan

The feds are giving away billions, hundreds of billions and trillions and many freepers are up in arms over SS disability and food stamps.

I got my bucket out last year.


36 posted on 06/17/2013 4:43:41 PM PDT by winodog
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To: patriot08
He accepted it without question, didn’t he?

You probably would do the same thing!

So would I.

37 posted on 06/17/2013 4:46:53 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Employed 1991 – 1997: Pension equals $48,807 per year for only 8yrs. F’n service which included expense accounts and health care benefits

Employed 1999 – 2002: Pension equals $10,132 per year for only 3 yrs. F’n service which included expense accounts and health care benefits

With this kind of government largess that includes Republicans, it’s virtually impossible to make any argument against the Democrap party that includes such an abuse of taxpayer funded pension plans……..

38 posted on 06/17/2013 4:57:25 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (This space for rent)
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To: Hot Tabasco

With this kind of government largess that includes Republicans, it’s virtually impossible
to make any argument against the Democrap party that includes such an abuse of taxpayer funded pension plans……..

**************

That in reality is the problem as once in they all seem to fall in line and scratch each others back. And with these gov’t pension plans it’s the tax payers that are the source of the funds in one way or another.


39 posted on 06/17/2013 5:02:33 PM PDT by deport
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40 posted on 06/17/2013 5:09:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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