It must be nice to be a Democrat where you can literally get paid to not work.
At least, that's the case for this Chicago Democrat who is an Illinois State Legislator and was conveniently absent from her job for an entire legislative session.
Patricia Van Pelt, a Chicago Democrat who has been in politics for over a decade finally figured something out. She doesn't have to show up to work in order to still get a paycheck.
Van Pelt herself doesn't participate in the legislative part of her job anymore.
Van Pelt refuses to do so, sources tell Chicago City Wire, and she refuses to resign so Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) can appoint a replacement.
Taxpayers are still paying her salary and they're still paying for her office in the state capitol, but she's just not going to work anymore.
She literally hasn't cast a single vote.
She's elected and paid to represent parts of the North and West sides of Chicago, but she doesn't even go into the office, let alone legislate.
"Last year, she told (Harmon) she was going to do nothing this year, tell people she was having a medical procedure done, then resign. She didn't want to come to Springfield anymore," the source said. "But she drew a four-year term, not a two-year as she expected. So she now wants to cash in on the gig and keep her state paycheck for a while longer."
Dr. Pat, as Van Pelt is known, announced publicly that she was resigning back in January, but she never actually resigned.
She just kept on drawing the paycheck.
Supposedly, Van Pelt was going to retire due to medical issues, as she informed the Senate President, but those "health issues" didn't prevent her from speaking at conferences in LA and Vegas just days after her medical "retirement."
Van Pelt is even going to be part of a conference in Madrid, Spain.
She is charging $1,500 per person to participate in a "5-day summit featuring next-level teachings on how to activate exponential success in business, ministry, love, and purpose."
This lady has learned the art of the scam. I'll give her that.
Her base salary for being a "public servant," which she is still collecting, is $70,645, in case you were wondering.
Is this really America?
