Reply #2: when in doubt, try snopes

[havocmom]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/pensions.asp

<snip> # It is not true that Congressmen do not pay into the Social Security fund. They pay into the fund just as most everyone else does. (A few odd exceptions to the Social Security program still exist, both inside and outside of government.)

Evidently, prior to 1984, they did not pay into SS but did pay into a seperate civil servants' retirement fund. This one has been making the rounds for several years. I was waiting for it to surface again this year and sure enough, I got it in the email yesterday too.

<snip> It is not true that Congressmen "continue to draw their same pay, until they die." The size of their pensions is determined by a number of factors (primarily length of service, but also factors such as when they joined Congress, their age at retirement, their salary, and the pension options they chose when they enrolled in the retirement system) and by law cannot exceed 80% of their salary at the time of their retirement.