"Chain email on Tuesday, October 15th, 2013 in an email and
social media posts says “Nancy Pelosi will earn “$803,700 Dollars a
year for LIFE including FREE medical”
(My editorial input: notice that even though the recent
shutdown was the direct fault of the Tea Bagger portion of the Republican Mob
(it’s in too severe a state of disarray to refer to as a Party, at present),
the slur and focus of this diametrically incorrect statement is Nancy Pelosi,
who isn’t even Speaker of the house. Understand the idiocy involved here. You’re angry that the Government is shutdown (OK).
You blame Congress (not OK, since one sect/cult/lunatic element of one party in
one chamber is responsible). You, however, target a member of the other party ( Not OK,
but it does reveal the true affiliation of the liar!)
Okay, people, let’s chat from the heart for a second.
Congressional approval ratings nearing single digits and
government shutdowns do not make viral rants about lawmakers’ pay any more
true.
If your in-box claims to share shocking truths in ALL-CAPS
underlined exclamations!! — take your hand off the mouse button. Do not click
Forward. Unless, of course, it’s to your favorite fact-checkers. Take this recent example sent by one of you to Politifact.
“Subject: Obscene Salaries - Pass this on if you believe this is all
wrong
Salary of retired US Presidents .$180,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate....$174,000 FOR LIFE This
is stupid
Salary of Speaker of the House ....$223,500 FOR LIFE!
This is really stupid
Salary of Majority/Minority Leader $193,400 FOR LIFE
Ditto last line
Average Salary of a teacher .. $40,065
Average Salary of Soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN .. $38,000 Think about this.
Nancy Pelosi will retire as a Congress Person at $174,000 Dollars a
year for LIFE. She has retired as SPEAKER at $223,500 a year.
PLUS she will receive an
additional $193,400 a year as Minority Leader. That's $803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE medical which is not available to us ... the
taxpayers.
She is just one of the
hundreds of Senators and Congress that float in and out every year!
I think we found where the
cuts should be made!
If you agree ..... pass it
on, I just did”
(Me again: Yes, I’m sure you did, thereby proving that you
are too stupid to be permitted to procreate!)
Politifact’s
response:
“In honor of Congress’ second-worst approval rating in
Gallup history, let’s keep this simple: Do congressional lawmakers earn their
salaries "FOR LIFE? Would House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi get
"$803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE medical"? No. And really,
really, really, no.
We’ll break it down.
Do congressional lawmakers earn their
salaries "FOR LIFE?
(NO! And it isn't even close).
Let’s turn to the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, the
Congressional Research Service, which explains laws so even lawmakers can
understand them.
• Members of Congress earn their $174,000 salaries only during their elected terms.
(Nope, not for life.)
• They’re eligible for congressional pensions only
after five years of service. (For a member of the House, that would
mean getting elected to office at least three times.)
Those pensions can’t be tapped until retirement age — and can’t be
collected while a lawmaker still gets a federal salary. So John Kerry, for
example, can’t collect his congressional pension while he serves as secretary
of state, according to Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union.
• The size of the pension depends on years of service and
the average of a lawmaker’s highest three years of salary. The exact formula
depends on when they started. Meanwhile, every paycheck, lawmakers
contribute to both their pensions and Social Security. (My note, even the Military contributes to Social Security, but not to their pensions)
• Most congressional pensions are nowhere
near a lawmaker’s salary. Under a pre-1984 retirement formula, it
couldn’t be more than 80 percent of a lawmaker’s final salary, not counting
cost-of-living adjustments. Under current rules, lawmakers could theoretically
get more than 80 percent of their salary, but
most would need to serve more than 66 years to get that.
Would House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi get "$803,700
Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE medical"?
The email writer gets a whole host of things wrong here.
The message claims Pelosi will retire as a member of
Congress making $174,000 — and that she’ll earn it annually, for life, on top
of her full speaker’s salary of $223,500 and minority leader’s salary of
$193,400, for a whopping "$803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE
medical." - Nope!
Congressional leaders do get paid more than other lawmakers.
The speaker of the House earns $223,500. The House minority leader earns
$193,400. That’s more than the $174,000 earned by the rank and file. But those
are annual salaries that leaders earn while they hold their titles, not
lifetime guarantees that get stacked on top of one another.
• First, even if her pension did equal all three salaries,
they add up to $590,900, not $803,700. (Unless perhaps the writer’s suggesting
the "free medical" is worth $212,800 a year. Talk about rising health
care costs!)
• Second, that’s not how it works. See above.
• Third, lawmakers don’t get "free
medical." They pay a portion of their health insurance premiums, co-pays
and co-insurance and can face a deductible, just like a lot of workers with
employer-based health care. In January, their employer-offered health insurance
will be a choice of plans offered on Obamacare’s federal exchange.
Pelosi’s higher salary as House speaker from 2007-11 will
boost her pension. But the congresswoman, who’s been in office since
1987, would have to work at least two more decades for her starting pension to
match a regular lawmaker’s pay, much less $803,700. Not likely, since She’s 73.
And, oh, by the way, lawmakers haven’t given themselves a pay
raise since January 2009.
We’re not saying they’re earning their keep.
But perhaps it’ll make you feel slightly better that their
salaries this year hit their lowest inflation-adjusted levels since December
1990. And that more than 200 of them were refusing pay while the
government was closed.
Our ruling:
A viral message claims congressional lawmakers earn their
salaries "FOR LIFE," which for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
would add up to "$803,700 Dollars a year for LIFE including FREE
medical."
Lawmakers don’t earn a salary after their terms end. They may earn
pensions based on years of service, but those don’t start until retirement.
They don’t get "free medical."
It might feel good to
click "Forward", But it wouldn’t make this claim any less Pants on Fire."
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