Lee Iacocca: ENOUGH! WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?

[W. Gray]

Just as a note:

All congressmen and women who have taken office since 1983 are on and pay into Social Security.

The folks who have been around for a while such as Byrd and Kennedy are on the previous system.

[Catwoman]

I've never heard that one before...where did you get your info?

[W. Gray]

I first heard about it because it was the big event of 1983 for federal employees and Congress people.

Affected all new federal employees and congress people from Jan 1, 1984 and forward.

For the past quarter century, these folks have been under FERS (Federal Employment Retirement System) in which they pay Social Security and Medicare taxes.

The older Congress people and older civil servants are grandfathered under CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) in which they pay in only Medicare.

[Wilma]

So do our retired congresspeople draw a federal retirement plus a social security check?

[W. Gray]

Under FERS, Social Security has been their sole government retirement plan since 1984.

When they retire, they draw a Social Security check.

Those who are under CSRS, that is the people in the system before 1984, they will usually retire only with a "federal retirement check" and no Social Security check.

However, if any of those CSRS folks had another job before or after they were a Congress person and did pay into Social Security and earned the minimum substantial quarters, they would receive a Social Security check in addition.

In this case, though, Social Security retirement is cut by a pretty good percentage formula factor and 85% of what they do receive as a Social Security check is taxable.

[Catwoman]

What has been done regarding the other 'golden fleece' perks?  Are they still getting health care for free or a drastically reduced price, etc.?

[W. Gray]

There are 300-400 different health plans originating from companies in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico offered by private companies to Congressmen or Congresswomen. Congress people are offered the same health care coverage as federal employees and it can go from low to high depending on what coverage they need, want, or can afford.

They can choose any one of those 300-400 company health plans provided the company will accept them.

There are not any health plans offered by Washington DC companies but Virginia companies offer eight plans, the same as available from Kansas companies.

Todd Tiahrt, the representative from the Elk County area could choose the Kansas Humana Health Plan and get the following:

High Coverage for him and his family: Costs him $507.00 month.
Standard Coverage for him and his family: Costs him $179.74 month.

For himself only high coverage is: $221.08 month.
Standard coverage for himself is:  $78.14 month.

He may want to go with a Virginia company rather than a Kansas company.

There are cheaper plans and there are more expensive plans. The Congress person has to shop around to get the best deal.

It depends on what the Congressman feels he needs to protect him and his family.

[pam]

The present salary for regular members of congress is like 170,000 a year, the house and senate leaders get 188,000, the speaker of the house gets 217,000. the present retired members get an average pension of around 60,000 a year. This is on top of whatever salary they make anywhere else. To sit around and argue..........and spend our money. Don't think affording health insurance is a real big issue for them, or groceries or gas or house payments. I've always thought we should bust em down to the same kind of living the rest of us make, keep em honest maybe. Better yet bust em down to the minimum wage they set for the rest of the country.