Rush does make sense at times

[Flashermac]

Love him or loathe him, Rush Limbaugh nailed this one right on the head.

----------------------------

 

 

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our 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 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. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by our politicians and generals.)

 

We also learned 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 US Congress votes themselves a raise. 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 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, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm's way receives 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.

 

 

[Rush apparently thinks everyone in uniform is a "soldier". )

 

[HeartThais]

This stance from a conservative makes no sense to me. Isn't it a core principle of conservative theory that people have intrinsically different worth and the free market is the best place to determine that worth? So a commodities trader making $3M/year is worth a lot more than an uneducated soldier. These aren't my values, but the values set by the market based on supply and demand.

 

So why the push to circumvent the market and equalize their value in death? I agree with Rush on this topic but I'm a commie.

[Flashermac]

I'm not going to get into how much a family deserves because one of its members was killed by chance in a terrorist attack. But the pensions and benefits paid to already wealthy Congressmen is appalling. It's a wonder there hasn't been a popular revolt.

 

p.s. I don't know what the feds have done to the standards for the military, but when I was an Army instructor in the early 1990s only high school grads could enlist. It took a BA or BS degree to get above E-7, and almost every GI was taking university level classes on post. Commissioned occifers had to have a BA or BS, plus it took an MA or MS to get above captain. I suspect the standards got lowered quite a bit to find enough cannon fodder for Bush's war.

 

 

[Steve]

I for one think the way some of our men and women in uniform are treated is abysmal. I agree with Rush up to a point. I am not sure of all of the particulars but aren't the payments to the 911 families partially in lieu of the potential mountains of lawsuits that could have resulted? The payments were seen partially as a way to quell that (families had to forgo any legal redress if they accepted the monies) as well as drag the memories of the lives and the event through the mud.

 

Our military is a volunteer one and they voluntarily put themselves into harm's way. It doesn't mean they don't deserve to be treated better than they are presently but every soldier is aware of what the payments are. I think it should be more but in the end its what they signed up for.

 

The 911 victims didn't sign up for it. My personal opinion was not to set a precedence by paying. Are the families of the victims of Katrina any less? Do you have to die at the hands of foreign terrorists to receive payments? What if your loved one died partially as a result of the neglect and incompetence of the government (local, state and federal) you placed your faith in?

 

I believe any payments should have been charitable. I would have had a private charity set up where all Americans could donate to and a set amount paid. The charity could have had the proviso that the person would forego any lawsuits for more. I wouldn't have made it a government payment.

 

 

[Flashermac]

When you go into the military, you sign a contract. It specifies what you will receive - pay, insurance, educational benefits etc. Unfortunately, the government feels free to change those whenever they - not you - feel like it.

 

[Torneyboy]

He makes no sense to me ..

[Faustian]

Looking at those figures, is it any wonder most politicians are incompetent, lazy, fat cats, who do very little for their country, but have their ample pockets lined with gold. They have the best, most comfortable positions going! Such an easy life. No threats to its existence either. Just vote for your own comfort.

 

Performance related pay should be a minimum condition for receiving such riches.

[Old Hippie]

So where was the drug addict when Bush wanted to cut/reduce a lot of the already pathetic benefits service men and women receive? What about the government under Bush wanting to take back enlistment bonuses from guys injured unable to complete the full term?

 

I agree, he is right here. Frankly, I fail to see why the September 11 victims are really "entitled" to anything. They were killed in a terrorist attack...why are the tax payers or insurance companies/airlines responsible for this?

 

I know a woman who was killed up the street from me, stray bullet from a passing car shooting at another, her family will get nothing, just what ever insurance they had, if any.

[Flashermac]

Yep, when I was an Army instructor a young gal we knew was killed by a stray shot while watching a baseball game. Seemed one of the Bloods had spotted one of the Crips (or vice sersa) and shot at him. Missed the gangbanger and killed the gal. Her family got absolutely nothing.

 

p.s. Never think that Rush believes all that he is saying. He's just making money. I enjoyed him for a while long ago, but quickly tired of him. He is an entertainer, pure and simple. If there were more money in being a liberal, he'd switch immediately.

 

 

 

[unit731]

LINK

 

Draft Dodger or Draft Avoider?

 

 

 

Rush Limbaugh: His views on drug addicts:

 

DRUG ADDICTS