Congress Generous With Pensions

Washington -- While the White House and Congress explore ways to fix Social Security -- whether to cut benefits, raise taxes or impose a higher retirement age -- one segment of the 52 million Americans who get retirement benefits is likely to remain untouched: the lawmakers themselves.

There are no serious proposals for Congress to cut its own pension plan or raise the retirement age or years of service required for senators and representatives to qualify for benefits that are beyond the reach of most working Americans.

The retirement package includes automatic inflation adjustments and guaranteed access to post-retirement private medical insurance in addition to Medicare protection provided all Americans.

Barely 20 percent of the American workforce has pensions comparable to congressional pensions, according to the independent Employee Benefit Research Institute. Almost no one in the private sector has the kind of cost-of-living escalators that keep Capitol Hill pensions moving upward.

Lawmakers have "paved a smooth path for their golden years," said John Berthoud, president of the National Taxpayers Union, a 350,000-member conservative advocacy group that campaigns for lower federal spending. "Too bad taxpayers are supplying most of the gold."

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