What's A Military Family Worth

[Guest DrTom]

I got this in email at work today. It's supposedly written by Rush Limbaugh, though I doubt it really was (the tone is wrong in several spots, as is the diction, and the typical "forward this" spiel at the end reeks of a chain letter). Some interesting points are raised regardless of who really wrote it, though.

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What's a Military Family Worth?

By Rush Limbaugh, March 11, 2002

 

I think the vast differences in compensation between the victims of the September 11th 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 11th. 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 11th 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 that are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough.

 

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 11th 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 fifty years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad.

 

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."-Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.

 

Every time when 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. However our own US Congress just voted themselves a

raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress

onetime to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month and most are now equal to be 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 harms 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.

[Guest danielisthor]

I received this email a couple of weeks ago. Its a damn shame is pretty much all i can say. Especially considering the amount of money most of our guys in the military make, its a crying shame.

[Guest hardyz1]

I personally don't see why the 9/11 families should get money aside from donations from people/charities.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I don't understand the logic in family members getting "compensation" for a loved ones death. How is their death any different or "worth more" than a death in the family in another situation? This is what Life insurance policies are for. Even so though, how in the hell could you say, 1,000,000 is not enough? These people will never have to work another day in their life......It just goes to show that absolutely NOTHING has changed in america, so people can put away their american flags and come back to the harsh reality of our general public.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."-Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.

 

No way Rush would use a quote by Eisenhower's (sp) bitch in the '52/'56 elections.

 

But military people do get screwed when it comes to $, although they get to blow sh*t up...

[Guest EricMM]

I don't understand why victims of 9/11 should get millions. A lot of people died that day, just in general.

 

They're not entitled to anything more than the govt. would give to anyone else.

 

I was talking to KoRFungus, and he was saying how some lady wanted money for her husband who died in bed that day. I said he didn't deserve money because he wasn't in the building. But then KoRF said that didn't make a difference, and he was right. The real point was, noone was entitled to any money, and it was just feel good money. Yay America, we're being PRO-ACTIVE! Rah rah rah!

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Most of the families haven't taken their money anyway, because then they'd have to give up all the other potential benefits. So they're suing in court because they think they can get more... of course they shouldn't have the right to sue in the first place, but this is America: if a mosquito bites your ass you sue the Secretary of the Interior. That's what the liberals have done to the country with their poisonous culture of victimhood.

The fund established in compassion and shared grief is now seen as an inadequate entitlement. And the feeding frenzy continues.

 

Remember children, no good deed goes unpunished.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I would be more likely to blame this on blood-sucking lawyers out for the quick buck, than Liberals. Remember, judges can easily throw these cases out. I just hope when they go to court, everyone gives in because, of the Sept. 11th tragedy issue.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Blood-sucking lawyers wouldn't have any clients if people didn't think of themselves as victims. Once, there was a thing called "pride" and something else called "dignity," but now they have become all but extinct. And that is directly and unequivocally the fault of the liberals.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I don't think it has anything to do with "pride" or "dignity" it is a issue of money. If there was no money involved, and they were going to court to sue for "piece of mind" or something like that, the people wouldn't waste their time. The issue is money. Not politics.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

No, the issue is culture. If you feel you're a victim in waiting, if you feel that nothing is worth sacrifice, if you feel entitled to success, you will sue anyone and anything whenever you suffer regardless of how ridiculous it makes you look. Liberalism has disseminated a fallacious and contemptible doctrine which seeks to eradicate not only responsibility but the concepts of good and evil. It places blame on everything but the self. It refuses to accept the simple fact that sometimes shit just happens. It has weakened and corrupted American society and won over millions because it promises sordid riches won without effort at the expense of the faceless taxpayer. The Protestant work ethic? Honourable work as its own reward? Gone, replaced by a sense of entitlement, the idea that any suffering at all guarantees compensation, and the demand for instant gratification in every sphere of life.

That is the legacy of liberalism.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

No, the issue is culture. If you feel you're a victim in waiting, if you feel that nothing is worth sacrifice, if you feel entitled to success, you will sue anyone and anything whenever you suffer regardless of how ridiculous it makes you look. Liberalism has disseminated a fallacious and contemptible doctrine which seeks to eradicate not only responsibility but the concepts of good and evil. It places blame on everything but the self. It refuses to accept the simple fact that sometimes shit just happens. It has weakened and corrupted American society and won over millions because it promises sordid riches won without effort at the expense of the faceless taxpayer. The Protestant work ethic? Honourable work as its own reward? Gone, replaced by a sense of entitlement, the idea that any suffering at all guarantees compensation, and the demand for instant gratification in every sphere of life.

That is the legacy of liberalism.

I see your point, but I agree with him that most "victims" sue because they think they can get some money out of the deal. It is perpetuated by the lawyers who egg them on, like class action lawsuits, for example that stupid one recently where the guy wanted to sue the fast food chains, it's started by lawyers who convince people that they can get them money, so of course since most people are greedy, they go ahead with it, and in the end it's they themselves who get screwed since the lawyers are the ones who get most of the money, and their clients only get smaller compensation. As long as there are lawyers and greedy people, there will be frivolous lawsuits. I don't think most of these people really beileve they are victims, but instead wish to exploit a situation to their financial gain with the support of a lawyer. As NoCal mentioned, if there was no money involved you wouldn't have lawsuits. It's not a liberal laziness it's just irresponsible greed.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

The unfettered, irresponsible, reckless greed is fostered by the moral equivocation and entitlement enshrined by the left.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

The unfettered, irresponsible, reckless greed is fostered by the moral equivocation and entitlement enshrined by the left.

Ok, I can agree with that. I'm in high school, and in an AP Government class, where before I thought I was liberal, geez, these people are just idiots. We have debates and just today this girl (has purple hair and dresses like a hippie to put things in context), claims that government endorses Christianity and infringes on her family's pagan (her words) beliefs. For the love of....I immediately challenged her to provide some proof, to which she responded "well....um...there are a lot of out of date sexual laws, that even though are not enforced are still there because the government follows Christian beliefs". So I asked how out of date sexual laws that aren't even forced in a land founded on no establishment of religion forces Christianity on her. No real response. I actually fostered the spirit of the board and said the idiocy in this room is enough to make me choke. My teacher said "I wasn't being helpful".

[Guest NoCalMike]

Greed, comes from the left!?! errrmm, okay!?!

[Guest Cancer Marney]

My teacher said "I wasn't being helpful".

Good. Being discounted by someone who is, in all likelihood, a member of the NEA, a staunch Democrat, and a dyed-in-the-wool liberal is a compliment.

[Guest J*ingus]

Marney, do you say the same things to the faces of Democratic senators and congressmen? <g>

 

Anyway, the sole responsibility for the proliferation of lawsuits today must rest on the shoulders of America's judges. If they would only throw out these idiotic cases the instant they hit the docket, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

It all depends. Sometimes I do abuse Congressmen just for fun. Usually it's in the middle of an extended personal threat and/or rant.

 

The blame can't be placed solely on the judiciary. They have a responsibility to enforce law, and although they can and must interpret legislature, if any judge tried to impose her own philosophy on tort law wholesale the House would impeach her in two seconds flat.

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

Heh, I know how it is, sometimes, Slapnuts. Your teacher saying you weren't "being helpful." Fortunately, I have a government teacher who likes the curveballs, but my physics teachers said (after I tried to get a guy in my class to come to school in a dress. Hey, there's no rule against it, here...) "If you spent half the energy you put into these wild schemes and spent it on conforming with everyone else, you'd be much happier. Why can't you just be like everyone else?" While she was saying that, she was handing the graded tests back. Guess who did the best? Seems like this non-conforming thing is working out for me.

Actually, what's really sad is that she considered getting a guy to wear a dress a "wild scheme." Thank the powers that be that she never had to teach my sister...

[Guest HecateRose]

Hey thanks for the compliment Samurai Goat I often found that you create the most interesting environments by being controversial, besides it's a lot more fun. Though I have run into my share of difficulty with it. The world is full of controvery and counter productivity, but it would be a dull place without it. I don't necessarily agree with it all, but it will keep you on your toes

[Guest Cancer Marney]

<vague look> HecateRose = Slapnuts00?

[Guest HecateRose]

No HecateRose=Samurai Goats sister, I have come to haunt him from half way around the world Mwah ha ha ha ha

[Guest Cancer Marney]

ahhh, okay. Welcome to the forum! I've heard a lot about you.

[Guest HecateRose]

Gosh now I have a stigma to undo . . . Great

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

Yep, the glossophobic from Germany, HecateRose.

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

No, it's a stigma to work up to, sis.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"No real response. I actually fostered the spirit of the board and said the idiocy in this room is enough to make me choke. My teacher said "I wasn't being helpful".

 

Gold. If I gave a crap about high school, I would have done the same thing. It was only until I was in college when I became a pain in the @ss...

[Guest HecateRose]

I thrived on controversy and being a pain in the @ss during my last year in high school, I was new to the school (and it is located in bible belt Texas) and had fun messing with their beliefs systems. I like starting sh!t. I'm good at it. I often found that if a teacher left themselves open for a witty retort, they deserved it, and often they are too embarassed to do anything about it, but that happens when the teachers are over worked and under payed

[Guest HecateRose]

Please forgive my mispellings and obscure use of grammar, for it is late here, and I should be in bed

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

Psh, it's a message board; who cares about grammar?