Fiscal 'conservative' Rick Perry quietly 'retired' in January, is now slopping twice at the public trough

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially retired in January so he could draw early pension benefits worth $7,699 a month, in addition to his annual governor’s salary of $150,000.
     This came to light via the Federal Elections Commission's financial disclosure statement that presidential candidates are required to file. The annuity inflates Perry’s public service income to a $242,388 per year hit to taxpayers. Reaction was swift:

“If there’s a Hall of Fame for hypocrites, he’s in it,” said Democratic consultant Paul Begala. “It must be part of Perry’s plan to starve the government by taking as much money from it as he can.”

     ...Mike Gross, head of the 12,000-member Texas State Employees Union, said:“People are acutely aware that there’s a very strong criticism and all-out assault by conservatives on public employee pension systems. But he’s taking care of himself,” Gross said, adding that he had never head of a Texas official doing such a thing. “Regular employees who retire and return to work get their pension frozen and don’t accrue additional years of service — and those people are strongly criticized as being double-dippers and trying to exploit a unique situation,” he said.

     ...The combination of Perry’s U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded the state-required 80 years and qualified him for the annuity.

     Perry has been on Texas’ public payroll since 1985, including stints as a state representative, agriculture commissioner and lieutenant governor before ascending to the governor’s office in 2001.