Republican Rep. Tom Petri Big on Double-Dipping. Any Conservative Taxpayers complaining, protesting at the Capitol?

While Republican politicians say “tough” to Detroit's retired public employee pensions negotiated by union bosses, our elected public employees have no problem thumping their chest declaring they deserved to keep their own “hard earned” pensions.

We’re talking about Republican Rep. Tom Petri:

Wisconsin Reporter- M.D. Kittle: Now into his 18th term, Petri, is the beneficiary of a $174,000 annual salary and will ultimately benefit from what the National Taxpayers Union calls the “single most personally valuable perk to a Member of Congress” – his federal government pension plan … the veteran congressman expects to earn a pension north of $100,000 per year, based on his earnings and what would be his 36 years in Congress upon the close of his latest term. “Congressional pensions are typically 2-3 times more generous than those offered to similarly-salaried workers in the private sector,” the National Taxpayers Union asserts on its website.

Where are the outraged Republican voters whining about their taxpayer supported politicians getting something they’re not in the private sector? This is what the whole union busting fiasco in Wisconsin was all about, right?

But it gets even worse, and more hypocritical. It even includes what state Republicans just legislated against, double dipping:

But Petri isn’t waiting to draw a federal pension … after a six-year political career in the Wisconsin state Senate … Petri collected $14,878 from his Wisconsin Retirement System pension, in which he was vested after five years of public service. Since 2008, the congressman has pocketed some $64,000 in state legislative pension payments, according CRP, a campaign fundraising and political information tracker. Petri sees nothing wrong with cashing the pension checks he rightfully earned.

“Rep. Petri simply believes that he earned his state pension through his public service in the state legislature and he has chosen to take it at this time,” Petri spokesman Lee Brooks said in an email to Wisconsin Reporter.

But it doesn't matter what Republican Rep. Petri “believes,” because it runs counter to "stand with Walker" voters:

The Joint Finance Committee mostly adopted Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal to prohibit full-time or nearly full-time employees from collecting a pension, known as “double dipping.” Retirees who want to return to public employment would have to wait 75 days, up from 30 days … public employees who work more than 1,392 hours a year wouldn’t be allowed to collect a pension from the Wisconsin Retirement System.

But to critics, the practice of congressional members drawing government pensions while building potentially hefty federal pensions stinks of double-dipping. That’s how congressman Ron Kind sees it:

“It does smack of a bit of double-dipping,” he told Wisconsin Reporter. “That’s an increased financial burden on taxpayers.” 

He said he’s hopeful his congressional brethren will “delve into” the issue, following the lead of states that have curtailed the practice of drawing from other public pensions while still being paid to serve the public.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee,  in 2011 collected $13,628 in legislative pension payments, and $7,770 from the Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Fund … U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, has collected nearly $100,000 in state pension payments since 2008. The long-time politician would collect an annual federal pension payout of well above $150,000 for 36 years of service.

Any Republican voters want take this “double-dipping” pillaging of taxpayer money on…crickets?