For those who were outraged by union leaders' pensions...

[sinkingfeeling]

Yesterday, many here voiced their outrage about this story: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1985613

Today, you can read about how state legislators pump up their pension plans by tens of millions and double dip to make their pensions even larger. All while voting to cut public employees' benefits.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-11/1A-state-lawmakers-pump-pensions/50522036/1

More than 4,100 legislators in 33 states are positioned to benefit from special retirement laws that they and their predecessors have enacted to boost their pensions by up to $100,000 a year, a USA TODAY investigation found. Even as legislators cut basic state services and slash benefits for police, teachers and other workers, they have preserved pension laws that grant themselves perks unavailable to voters they serve or workers they direct.

This year, the state of Oregon will pay state Rep. Andy Olson $108,701. That's $15,100 more than the governor's salary.

Olson gets so much because Oregon legislators allow themselves to collect a public pension while in office. The perk has let Olson, a retired state trooper who is 58, collect $705,000 from the state since he took office in January 2005. That includes $560,000 in pension payments.

Most of the 180,000 retirees getting a pension from the Oregon state retirement system are not as fortunate. A retiree who starts working for a local or state agency or for a school district usually is restricted to getting paid for 10 or 20 hours a week.

Olson, a Republican, supports allowing legislators to collect state pensions while in office, saying the policy encourages retirees such as himself with extensive public-sector experience to hold office by not penalizing them financially. Olson is among 10 of Oregon's 90 legislators who have collected $3.1 million in state pensions while in office.

More than 100 other lawmakers have collected about $15million total in state pensions while holding office, USA TODAY found. They serve in states that allow "double dipping" for legislators but bar or restrict other workers from getting state pensions while holding state or municipal jobs. Most of those lawmakers have retired from jobs such as state police officer or public school teacher, but others are drawing pensions solely for their legislative service.

[frazzled]

1. Why does one story need to be bashed to point out the other?

Both are very wrong. And both stories anger people who either (a) have pensions that are currently compromised because of bad policy and the economic downturn; or (b) the vast majority of Americans, who receive no defined benefit pensions at all.