Public ire that I don't understand

On a fairly regular basis newspapers and TV will do a story about the evils of “double dipping:” A government employee retires and goes back to work in his or her job as a consultant.

I’ve yet to see one of these stories say that the employee didn’t qualify for retirement or that there was a law in place that barred an employee from returning as a consultant.

No, they focus on the fact that the employee is getting a pension and a salary or hourly fee – how dare they “collect twice!” But they aren’t collecting twice. The pension was earned by however many years of service and contributions. The salary or hourly rate is earned by the current work. Indeed, the government entity is probably saving money by paying the retiree and not having to pay into a pension plan for a replacement.

Bad idea? Change the law.