Sheldon Silver was due to begin his seven-year sentence this week for violating the law, the public trust, and the responsibilities of his office as assembly speaker--a position he occupied for 21 years. Though a federal judge has stayed his entry date while Silver appeals his conviction, many New Yorkers are justifiably pleased to see Silver heading off to jail, viewing his conviction as a long-overdue draining of the Albany swamp. With recent convictions of other top players in state politics, it appears that New York may have begun to clean itself up.

But while Silver is eventually going to prison, he won't lose a single taxpayer-funded pension paycheck of $6,602 per month, even while serving his time behind bars. And in spite of his own federal conviction, former New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos also continues to receive a $95,831 annual pension, courtesy of New York taxpayers. If this makes you angry--as it should--it might further upset you that these ill-gotten pensions could have been eliminated if our elected lawmakers had done their job properly during the most recent legislative session.

Last November, New York voters passed by a nearly two-to-one margin a state constitutional amendment known as Proposal #2. The common reading of the proposal, and the one most people thought that they were voting for, was that it would punish legislators convicted of felonies by stripping away their pensions. In reality, lawmakers wrote an amendment with enough poison pills to ensure that even when they lose, they win.