A recent report from the National Journal revealed that on top of his Senate paycheck, US Senator John Cornyn is collecting retirement benefits from a trio of public pensions. This shouldn’t be too surprising, since it appears to be common practice among Texas GOP leaders – including Governor Rick Perry, who has been double-dipping for years.
What should be surprising is that while Sen. Cornyn collects over $65,000 in yearly retirement benefits, he voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. What does this mean for women and families? It means he voted against equal pay for equal work. On average, women earn $0.77 to every dollar men make. This hurts the bottom line for both single and two-income households. It turns out Cornyn’s vote on equal pay was not just inconsistent with Texas values, it was blatantly hypocritical – he would deny Texans a fair wage, while he collects four taxpayer funded paychecks.
