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House GOP Leaders Propose Linking Debt Limit to Military Pensions

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Photo Credit: APRepublican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek to make a 13-month extension of the federal debt limit conditional on the repeal of a planned cut in military pension benefits, lawmakers said on Monday.

Republicans were gauging support for the plan in anticipation of a Wednesday House vote that would extend the U.S. Treasury’s authority to borrow through March 2015. The Treasury has said a cash crunch could start after Feb. 27, when it expects to exhaust any remaining borrowing capacity.

The proposal from U.S. House Speaker John Boehner came after weeks of internal party struggle. It is not the “clean” debt limit increase sought by President Barack Obama, but falls far short of past Republican demands for deep spending cuts that have provoked political standoffs and a partial government shutdown last October that rattled financial markets.

But passage of the House leadership plan will likely need Democratic support after a number of Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism about the cost of the proposal.

Members of both parties have shown support for canceling the 1 percent reduction in cost-of-living increases for non-disabled military retirees of working age that was approved only in December. Earlier on Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 94-0 to advance a similar measure past a procedural hurdle.

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Marine Vet Slams Paul Ryan’s ‘Outrageous Attitude’ Toward Military Pension Cuts (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Two days after President Barack Obama signed a budget compromise that slashed pension benefits for military veterans, retired Marine Jessie Jane Duff blasted Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for his “outrageous attitude” toward the sacrifices those in the armed forces have made.

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Saturday, Jessie Jane Duff, who is at the E7 level, said Ryan, who brokered the deal with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WI), does not realize that many active duty military personnel go back to civilian life “broke” and “without a job” and have difficulty getting on equal footing with their “civilian counterparts.” She noted that many veterans have had to leave the armed forces early due to injuries or are suffering from things like PTSD.

The deal Obama signed includes a provision that would “pare down annual cost of living increases in benefits for military retirees under age 62, saving the government an estimated $6.3 billion over a decade.” What that means is a sergeant first class at the E7 level like Duff who retires at age 42 would lose $72,000 in benefits over a lifetime, according to a Fox News analysis.

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U.S. Attorney Wants to Take Away Corrupt Politicians’ Pensions

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Photo Credit: SETH WENIG/AP

Photo Credit: SETH WENIG/AP

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has had enough of corrupt politicians breaking the law — then collecting their taxpayer-funded pensions from jail, parole or scandal-induced retirements.

The prosecutor Tuesday took the unprecedented step of notifying three indicted New York pols that he plans to go after their pensions if they’re convicted.

While New York state law allows public officials to collect their pensions even after they’ve been convicted of felonies, the federal prosecutor says he has a way to get some of that money back.

He filed notices of forfeiture Tuesday targeting State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) and Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D-Bronx), who all stand to collect pensions paid by the same taxpayers they’re accused of robbing.

Smith faces charges for allegedly paying off Republican operatives to help him get on the ballot in an ultimately abandoned run for mayor. Halloran and Stevenson are charged with pocketing thousands of dollars in bribes.

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Sen. Cornyn Receives 3 Public Pensions Plus Senate Salary

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn last year supplemented his Senate salary with three public pensions, bringing in some $65,383 in public retirement benefits to add to his $174,000 a year salary for serving as senator….

His largest pension, for $48,807, came through the Judicial Retirement System of Texas, earned while serving on the state Supreme Court from 1991 to 1997.

Cornyn, 61, reported another $10,132 in pension benefits from the Employees Retirement System of Texas, a fund for state elected officials and workers, after serving as attorney general from 1999 to 2002.

Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, disclosed in a series of amendments he began filing last year that he had been collecting the $10,122 pension since 2006, but had not listed it on his original disclosure reports from 2006 through 2010.

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Teamsters Pension Crisis Sapping Hoffa’s Support, Power

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Photo Credit: AP

International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president Jimmy Hoffa Jr.’s response to his union’s pension crisis is sapping Hoffa’s support among Teamsters members, according to insiders.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the forces lobbying Congress for legislation based on the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans’ report “Solutions, Not Bailouts.” The report urges new congressional legislation to allow “deeply troubled” funds to cut employees’ pensions.

The Central States Pension Fund, which serves Teamsters members across the country and which also happens to be “deeply troubled,” has joined the Teamsters in lobbying for the new legislation. Insiders believe that the Fund plans to make across-the-board pension cuts.

The Teamsters’ unwillingness to allow companies to move Teamsters members out of the fund and into more secure retirement plans has enraged Teamsters members and sparked backlash against Hoffa.

“In that they’re calling for pension cuts, they’re on the wrong track,” Ken Paff, national organizer of the reform group Teamsters for a Democratic Union, told The Daily Caller. Approximately 3,000 active and retired Teamsters converged on their Kansas City union hall Tuesday to voice their displeasure with Hoffa and the Central States Pension Fund.

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Video: New Anti-Obama Campaign Launched Regarding His Assault on Delphi’s Non-Union Pension Plan

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In a news release yesterday, Let Freedom Ring announced a multi-million dollar campaign to reveal what Obama did to the non-union Delphi auto parts employees’ pensions while simultaneously bailing out union pensions.

Here’s the campaign’s damning “Top Priority” ad: