I never thought that I would find myself saying this, but Rush Limbaugh elucidates a crucial point in the commentary below. He discusses the gross disparities between compensation for our soldiers versus families of victims of the 9/11 attacks, as well as the congressmen and women who put them in harm’s way. This is a tough debate, how do you equally distribute funds for someone’s loss? How do you put a monetary value on giving someone’s life for the good of our country? Should they be allowed less than other victims because they want to serve and knowingly put themselves in harm’s way? What are your thoughts on this excerpt? How could we even out this imbalance?
By Rush Limbaugh:
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 politicians and commanding officers.)
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 e 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 voted 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.
“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.
Wow… Thank you, Cary. I agree with Rush Limbaugh…. I feel I have to take a shower now.
I am with you there 😉
Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then……………..
Too funny =)
I stayed 5 years and 3 months during a time when our wages doubled and we were transitioning from a conscripted force to an all volunteer force.
I was considering hard making it a life career choice but when the end of the Ford administration and the full Carter administration brought us to this same level of support they receive today my patriotism waned and my wife was very disillusioned by the fact that we qualified for welfare on my E5 salary after 4 years of service. Yes we had government housing. Yes we could eat and sleep with a roof over our heads but the moral of the troops here stateside was unbelievable and getting a loan for a decent vehicle was still almost impossible. I don’t know what the troops are going through today in that regard but I imagine is isn’t much different. I got out and took advantage of the GI Bill and have been working for the government ever since. The difference: I didn’t have to sacrifice my family by moving all over the world for 20-30 years of service or more and where they would have been away from our parents and brothers and sisters and their families. It’s hard enough keeping a family together out of the service but almost impossible while in the service. I’ve seen it done but there are pressures and that can make or break a career. Maybe it’s different now, but it’s hard being a soldier when the rest of the country can come and go as they please without worrying about the demands and sacrifices placed on soldiers. And getting credit that can make life bearable out is far easier than in for an enlisted man.
George, let me first thank you for your service and sacrifice to our country and government. It is great to hear input from someone who has actually experienced this. I would love to hear from more soldiers or vets and how they have dealt with this situation. Any thoughts out there?
I never understood or supported the families of 9/11 victims getting any payments from the government. I never understood the mentality of the politicians or the people that the country should collectively and unvoluntarily pay for their loss. There were many avenues for voluntary contributions for those who wanted to do so, but absolutely no constitutional basis for the government reaching into everyone’s pocket to make a contribution for them.
I honestly believe that my response if I were a family member of one of those killed would have been to refuse the money.
I guess my point is you are paying for people to kill to keep you safe from harm. These people are trained to go into harms way and sacrifice their lives for you so that you will be safe from harm and yourself not have to be in harms way. You can be half a world away from the conflict they are steeped in and not feel the that level of risk that they feel 24/7. They come home only to be sent back into harms way while you are safe and secure and your family celebrates holidays without a concern for what the soldier is going through to make it safe for you to have that holiday. Their holidays are spent in bunkers and extreme weather conditions while you lavish at home in the greatest country on the planet earth. Who do you think makes it the greatest country on the planet earth? Those very soldiers that congress loves to cut back on benefits, post military health care, post stress syndrome is something that carries a stigma with it so who cares about the soldier who gives you such a great country? I say pay the people what they deserve to begin with and you won’t have hands out begging for your favor!!!