Two Scoops, Please!

It's a wrong thing to do with a cracker or veggie and some dip.

And it's the wrong thing for John DeFrancisco, Tom Libous and the rest of  the dozen or so of our illustrious State Legislators who filed papers to do.

And they all know it. How do we know that?

Because they ran for re-election and never mentioned it to us during the campaign. See, that's how this works.  Run for reelection (in many cases unopposed or under-opposed) and never mention your intent to collect both your pension and your salary, which (without lulus), is $20,000 or so above the median income in New York.  Throw in the lulus, and the per diem, and all of the campaign cash that these folks spend so freely, and the self-promoting mail we pay for, and all the rest, and it's a nice little deal these folks have, isn't it?

It was the wrong thing for outgoing Onondaga County Sheriff/St Patrick impersonator Kevin Walsh to do, too -- but, as Walsh explained it was our fault that we didn't know his intentions, because we never asked him. Duh.

As with much of what our politicians do, it's perfectly legal and perfectly abusive and tone-deaf.

And perfectly justified, even for folks like DeFrancisco who has, as recently as 2013, said he wouldn't do this, but now maintains that he's not simply retiring and collecting just his pension because we need him:

Granted, I could simply retire and not serve any longer, However, now that Republicans have regained control of the State Senate, Central New York would be better served by my returning to my Senate seat, as a majority member and Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (emphasis added).

Libous is also not simply retiring, even while facing cancer and a federal indictment, but is going to stick around, take a couple of token pension payments and then freeze them, so that his wife will be eligible for any 'popup' benefits. Others are not simply retiring because they've been married for decades to wonderful women who would be forced to accept a 'modest' lump sum payment should their husbands die while in office. Apparently for them, having a wonderful wife is fine for the money, but not more important than serving us.

Selfless bastards, all of them. What would we do without them?