Love him or loath him, he nailed
this one right on the head...
By
Rush Limbaugh
I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die
serving the country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well,
I just can't let the numbers pass by because it
says something really disturbing about the entitlement
mentality of this country. If
you lost a family
member in the September 11 attack, you're
going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum
guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.
If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first
check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get
$1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving
spouse, you get $833 a month until you
remarry.
And there's a payment of $211
per month for each child under 18. When the child
hits 18, those payments come to a screeching
halt.
Keep in mind that some of the people who are
getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic,
but for most, they were simply in the wrong place
at the wrong time. Soldiers put
themselves in harms way FOR ALL
OF US, and they and their families know the
dangers.
We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma
City bombing have started
an organization asking for the same deal that the
September 11 families are getting.
In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.
You see where this is going, don't you?
Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50
years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they
usually receive next to
nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in
the Middle
East while their families
have to survive on food stamps and live in
low-rent housing. Make
sense?
However, our own U.S Congress just voted themselves a
raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress
one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month, and
most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They also do not receive Social Security on
retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.
If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an
E-7, you may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people
who placed you in harm's way receive a pension of $15,000 per month. I would like to see our elected officials
pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits
and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.
"When do we finally do something about this?" If this doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to
forward this to as many people as you can. If
your interested there is more.......................
THIS MUST BE A CAMPAIGN ISSUE IN 2004. Keep
it going.
SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is
worth the read. It's short and to
the point.)
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election
years. Our
Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social Security.
Many years ago they voted in
their
own benefit plan. In
more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. For all practical purposes their plan works like this:
When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay
until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of
living adjustments. For example,
former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to
draw $7,800,000 - that's Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand), with
their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.
This is calculated on an average life span for each. Their cost
for this excellent plan is $00.00. These little perks they voted for themselves are
free to them. You and I pick up the
tab for this plan.
The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General
Fund--our tax dollars at work! From our own Social Security Plan, which you and
I pay (or have paid) into -- every payday until we retire (which amount
is matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an average $1,000
per month after retirement. Or,
in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly
benefits for 68 years and one month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's
benefits!
Social Security could be very good if only one small change
were made. And
that change would be to jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from
under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the
rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it.
If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of
awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE, each one of us
... can make a difference.