Suzanimal
02-22-2015, 11:38 PM
Ending congressional pensions: “Governing class shouldn't be treated better than taxpayers”
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Kurt Wallace: On January 28th, you introduced legislation EPIC the End Pensions in Congress Act. Tell us the scope of this particular legislation.
Rep DeSantis: Well, members of Congress, they get a 401K and a defined benefit pension and that is so outdated and it basically is an incentive for Congress people to be here for a career and I think that the American taxpayer should not have to support that.
So, what the bill does is it short circuits the congressional pension system. And, what we did is we knew that some of the long standing members were not like that so we did provide a provision for people that have vested their benefit that they can opt back in to it.
But, the bill itself will simply terminate the pension program and then anyone who is five years or less in service will never be eligible for a pension. And, I think that you can’t ask taxpayers to support pensions for elected officials when they’re not in a situation to get pensions in the private sector.
Overwhelmingly, in the private sector now you have 401Ks and the defined benefit pension plan is really a relic from the bi-gone era. So, the governing class should not be treated better than the taxpayers who are funding the operations in government.
Kurt Wallace: Let’s talk about the culture in D.C. with your fellow congressman and congresswomen. You, Congressman DeSantis, declined your pension when taking office. Why is that?
Rep DeSantis: Because I wanted the voters to know that I wanted to do something and not just be somebody. And, I do believe that service in elected office – the founding fathers, they considered it a sacrifice. And, there are benefits to it because you get to effect the public business.
But, its supposed to be a sacrifice and I think that modern Washington have lost sight of that. People have cushy existences up here and a lot of people when they’re done with the congress they can go on and make all kinds of money leveraging their experience to do that.
I looked at that and said “Look, I don’t need the pension, I’m not in it for a pension”. I want people to know that yes I want to try to change the system but I’m willing to lead by example on that. So, I think that a lot of voters appreciate that because you’re showing them that it’s not just a bunch of rhetoric but you actually believe what you’re saying.
Kurt Wallace: What about your fellow constituents up there, your fellow congressmen, your peers?
Rep DeSantis: I’ve had some colleagues like Thomas Massie from Kentucky, who also declined his pension and is on this bill with me the EPIC Act. And, what we’re trying to do now is we’re researching some Democrats, to see Democrats who’ve been critical, if we can find some.
And, I think that would good if they’ve been critical of their pension system to have some bipartisan support on this. And, I think the goal would be to get a lot of the younger generation in terms of service on the bill. And, I think it would create a favorable contrast.
We have a lot of the old in both parties not wanting to do this. But then we can show that we have some numbers here. And, then the question is how do you force the issue? And it maybe something that you’d have to offer as an amendment to a bill, that’s related. Because it will be hard to get the leadership to want to bring this up.
But I think the more people that get involved in it and the more constituents that talk to their representatives about it, the better chance we to at least get a hearing and a vote on it.
Kurt Wallace: Let’s talk about numbers, what does a congressman pension look like today?
Rep DeSantis: It depends on how much you serve. It suffices to say that a lot of people who retire after having been here a long time they are getting a six figure pension. That’s just something that is really hard to justify from a taxpayers point of view.
Of course, if you don’t serve as long you may not be getting as much of that. But, don’t forget these guys also get define contribution plan, a 401K. I don’t have any problem with there being 401Ks available for people. But I just don’t that you should have something better than a 401K if the private economy is not really producing that.
So, all told you’re looking at some of these folks are having a pretty good cushion after they get out of here and I think that contributes to the careerism that you see in congress because you can serve here for 35 years an you know that you’re really going to have a cushy landing.
If you take the pension out of the situation, yeah you still have a 401K which is probably pretty good for a lot of people. But you’re probably going to have to work when you get out of here. And, I think that’s healthy because I want people to have to live under the laws that they pass. If you end up in congress and then you’re never in the real world again I think you really lose connection with how what you’re doing up here can negatively effect people in the private sector.
Kurt Wallace: Congressman DeSantis a lot of people believe that someone can go up to Washington DC and be a junior or a sophomore or a freshman congressman and they go in with very little money and they come out very wealthy.
There’s frustration about that, this feeling of elitism in Washington DC. Is there any study that you’ve done or seen on how much money could be saved by EPIC based on past history?
Rep DeSantis: So, there are two issues there. One on the accumulation of wealth – that is really problematic apart from the pension issue we have people like Harry Reid who have only been on government salaries their whole life pretty much and yet somehow they’re striking these multimillion dollar land deals and really gaining a lot of profits on this stuff.
And, I think those are examples of people who have a whole lot of political heft being put in a position where they;re able to enrich themselves with some of these sweetheart deals. And, that’s unfortunate – I think the way you’ve got to do that is deal with that in terms of the electoral process in voting out people who do that.
And, of course if they’re violating laws they should be prosecuted. In terms of the pension and what it will save? You’re talking about millions of dollars. There’s no illusion that this is not going to extinguish our national debt. There’s just not enough members of congress for this to be something that is that significant.
But, I think it is significant because I think that you will end up seeing better government. I think it serves as kind of a weakened version of term limits. Because I think that there will be less incentive to stay here forever. I think it will foster some new blood and maybe get some fresh ideas. It does save the government money, the taxpayer money. But, I think more than that is the cultural change that I think this could help foster.
...
Read more at http://rare.us/story/ending-congressional-pensions-governing-class-shouldnt-be-treated-better-than-taxpayers/#3lWOdxZ93r4pd8dR.99
...
Kurt Wallace: On January 28th, you introduced legislation EPIC the End Pensions in Congress Act. Tell us the scope of this particular legislation.
Rep DeSantis: Well, members of Congress, they get a 401K and a defined benefit pension and that is so outdated and it basically is an incentive for Congress people to be here for a career and I think that the American taxpayer should not have to support that.
So, what the bill does is it short circuits the congressional pension system. And, what we did is we knew that some of the long standing members were not like that so we did provide a provision for people that have vested their benefit that they can opt back in to it.
But, the bill itself will simply terminate the pension program and then anyone who is five years or less in service will never be eligible for a pension. And, I think that you can’t ask taxpayers to support pensions for elected officials when they’re not in a situation to get pensions in the private sector.
Overwhelmingly, in the private sector now you have 401Ks and the defined benefit pension plan is really a relic from the bi-gone era. So, the governing class should not be treated better than the taxpayers who are funding the operations in government.
Kurt Wallace: Let’s talk about the culture in D.C. with your fellow congressman and congresswomen. You, Congressman DeSantis, declined your pension when taking office. Why is that?
Rep DeSantis: Because I wanted the voters to know that I wanted to do something and not just be somebody. And, I do believe that service in elected office – the founding fathers, they considered it a sacrifice. And, there are benefits to it because you get to effect the public business.
But, its supposed to be a sacrifice and I think that modern Washington have lost sight of that. People have cushy existences up here and a lot of people when they’re done with the congress they can go on and make all kinds of money leveraging their experience to do that.
I looked at that and said “Look, I don’t need the pension, I’m not in it for a pension”. I want people to know that yes I want to try to change the system but I’m willing to lead by example on that. So, I think that a lot of voters appreciate that because you’re showing them that it’s not just a bunch of rhetoric but you actually believe what you’re saying.
Kurt Wallace: What about your fellow constituents up there, your fellow congressmen, your peers?
Rep DeSantis: I’ve had some colleagues like Thomas Massie from Kentucky, who also declined his pension and is on this bill with me the EPIC Act. And, what we’re trying to do now is we’re researching some Democrats, to see Democrats who’ve been critical, if we can find some.
And, I think that would good if they’ve been critical of their pension system to have some bipartisan support on this. And, I think the goal would be to get a lot of the younger generation in terms of service on the bill. And, I think it would create a favorable contrast.
We have a lot of the old in both parties not wanting to do this. But then we can show that we have some numbers here. And, then the question is how do you force the issue? And it maybe something that you’d have to offer as an amendment to a bill, that’s related. Because it will be hard to get the leadership to want to bring this up.
But I think the more people that get involved in it and the more constituents that talk to their representatives about it, the better chance we to at least get a hearing and a vote on it.
Kurt Wallace: Let’s talk about numbers, what does a congressman pension look like today?
Rep DeSantis: It depends on how much you serve. It suffices to say that a lot of people who retire after having been here a long time they are getting a six figure pension. That’s just something that is really hard to justify from a taxpayers point of view.
Of course, if you don’t serve as long you may not be getting as much of that. But, don’t forget these guys also get define contribution plan, a 401K. I don’t have any problem with there being 401Ks available for people. But I just don’t that you should have something better than a 401K if the private economy is not really producing that.
So, all told you’re looking at some of these folks are having a pretty good cushion after they get out of here and I think that contributes to the careerism that you see in congress because you can serve here for 35 years an you know that you’re really going to have a cushy landing.
If you take the pension out of the situation, yeah you still have a 401K which is probably pretty good for a lot of people. But you’re probably going to have to work when you get out of here. And, I think that’s healthy because I want people to have to live under the laws that they pass. If you end up in congress and then you’re never in the real world again I think you really lose connection with how what you’re doing up here can negatively effect people in the private sector.
Kurt Wallace: Congressman DeSantis a lot of people believe that someone can go up to Washington DC and be a junior or a sophomore or a freshman congressman and they go in with very little money and they come out very wealthy.
There’s frustration about that, this feeling of elitism in Washington DC. Is there any study that you’ve done or seen on how much money could be saved by EPIC based on past history?
Rep DeSantis: So, there are two issues there. One on the accumulation of wealth – that is really problematic apart from the pension issue we have people like Harry Reid who have only been on government salaries their whole life pretty much and yet somehow they’re striking these multimillion dollar land deals and really gaining a lot of profits on this stuff.
And, I think those are examples of people who have a whole lot of political heft being put in a position where they;re able to enrich themselves with some of these sweetheart deals. And, that’s unfortunate – I think the way you’ve got to do that is deal with that in terms of the electoral process in voting out people who do that.
And, of course if they’re violating laws they should be prosecuted. In terms of the pension and what it will save? You’re talking about millions of dollars. There’s no illusion that this is not going to extinguish our national debt. There’s just not enough members of congress for this to be something that is that significant.
But, I think it is significant because I think that you will end up seeing better government. I think it serves as kind of a weakened version of term limits. Because I think that there will be less incentive to stay here forever. I think it will foster some new blood and maybe get some fresh ideas. It does save the government money, the taxpayer money. But, I think more than that is the cultural change that I think this could help foster.
...
Read more at http://rare.us/story/ending-congressional-pensions-governing-class-shouldnt-be-treated-better-than-taxpayers/#3lWOdxZ93r4pd8dR.99