Whats a military family worth ?

[Scott_in_WVA]

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 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
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.
>

 

[patrickg]

Scott, Lucky thing I don't have time to reply to this at length. This sort of thing really hits my hot button. The whole entitlement mentality really revs me up. Entitlement is right up there with over-litigation, and the self esteem crap that passes for the guidance of young minds in our schools. (Read the latest Reader's Digest if you would like to get a dose of reality regarding the "self esteem" travesty perpetrated on our youth.)

The 911 disaster was that, a disaster. Does the Government by laying big bucks on those most directly effected, admit guilt, responsibility, or culpability? If the Government is not admiting that the 911 events were reasonably stopable and that it was the Governments fault for not taking the clear direct steps to prevent the result then why are they drowning the "victims" in cash? A sad sad commentary on our society, especially when "victims" of other events are jealous and want to be covered in cash too. What a load of crap.

Agent Orange from the Viet Nam era, Gulf War Syndrome, etc. Bunches of American fighting men doing their duty for the USA get "poisoned" and are abandoned, ridiculed, and ignored by the system for whom they risked their lives. Meanwhile terrorists take a shot at the USA and some citizens who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time have massive quantities of $$$ dumped on their survivors. BS pure and simple.

Now, regarding the "heroes" who attacked the terrorists and prevented the terrorists from succeding in their mission. The Gov should have provided a very very decent funeral including, with family approval, full military honors and their names in bronze on a memorial next to the 'Liberty Bell" or other fiting location. Still don't see how "payment" for that or "restitution" should be made to surviving relatives. Aid to dependants, help with education costs, and like that, yes, but not bury them in $.

It is stupid to try to equate the lives lost to $. It is my $ and I don't owe a randon selected victim's survivors anything. I think educational benefits for the children and a few other perks would be generous and sufficient.
The "entitlement" mentality is a destructive influence on the fabric of our society and serves the ends of the terrorists far better than it serves the interests of the USA.

Patrick

 

[Egon]

Scott:
It has always been my belief that the military exists so culpable young men and women can enable old men to make more money.

 

[gordon]

Patrick you hit the nail on the head with that post!!!!

Gordon

 

[Chuck52]

I agreed with those sentiments the last time this was posted. There's an article in todays paper from a Washington Post editorial basically saying the same thing. We seem to go off the deep end with memorials too, though it is more difficult to argue with that I guess.

Chuck

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hey, hey hey, come on now, has not Uncle Sugar given us the marvelous VA system to care for us and our widows and orphans?
Did they not just give us the marvelous prescription program, the one that switches us to drugs that are cheaper for Uncle Sugar to buy, regardless of effectiveness?
Anybody else ever notice how VA facilitys have a huge ADMIT area, and DISCHARGE seems to be the loading dock where the hurse backs up?
Let me die in a ditch before I'm hauled to the VA!

Old men making money off gullible youth, such a thought. Just might explain how so many congressmen, senators and Presidents got filthy rich though, names like Johnson, Kerr, Gore, Fullbright seem to come to mind quickly.

 

[cp1969]

Though I'm anything but glad that my father has passed away, I am glad that he didn't have to live through this nonsense. Having won a 3 1/2 year, all-expense paid camping/hunting trip through Africa and Europe in the 40's, his tolerance of the unbridled greed and selfishness of individuals when it comes to taking government money (especially those who never served) was astonishingly low.

 

[patrickg]

I have been extremely priveleged to know as personal friends, four WW II vets. None of them ever wanted anything extra for having served their country and preserved the free world as we know it now. I am not sure of the exact statistic but I believe we are currently loosing something like 2000 WW II vets/day. Soon there will be none left and we will be a lesser people for that loss. If you get a chance to show some appreciation to a WW II vet and don't, you have missed an opportunity that may never be repeated. We owe them so very much.

There seems to be a common thread that runs through the "moral fiber" of WW II vets, at least those I have known. They all are independent, believe in meritocracy, individual freedom, and for the most part think we have too much Government. Maybe it is just a statistical fluke that I would only meet heroes or maybe it says something about a generation of Americans with intact spines, honor, and deserved self esteem. They were all combat veterans who made it back alive in spite of the odds of surviving being so tilted against them over and over mission after mission.

I believe the greatest difference between WW II vets and current serving military is circumstance. If the balloon goes up, I am confident that our uniformed services will do their duty and serve with distinction. To hold their continued voluntary service in the face of circumstances that could easily demand their life in such low regard that "accident victims" or their survivors derive such more generous treatment is, in my oppinion, just not right.

Patrick

P.S. I used to listen to Rush but it isn't convenient anymore. He was a great source of amusement much of the time. Every so often he would put something together that almost made wading through the "junk", worth it. This was one of those times.

 

[Egon]

Patrick:
Unbelievable, Egon conncurs with your posts on the military and renumeration.

Egon

 

[Redman59]

Patrick,
Well said. My dad was a Navy Vet who served in North Africa, Italy,and the Pacific through to China. He had two ships sunk out from under him, another ship hit by kamikazes. He said very little to me about his experiences accept the day I told him I was going into the Marines. He cried. He had landed troops on the beaches at Salerno and Anzio. When the amphib he was on was sunk, he swam to the beach and was made a Beachmaster. I guess it wasn't pretty because he tried to talk me into the Navy. My father's generation is special.

Prior to the invasiaon of Grenada, there were some staff NCOs who groused about the way boot camp had changed since they went through. When the bullets flew, the young men rose to the occasion. They rose to the occasion again in Beirut.

Despite all the attempts by GCL (godless communist liberals) to weaken our miltary through social engineering, I like you have confidence in the young infantrymen who are out there protecting us.

Have you all been following the story of Pat Tillman? He is the Arizona Cardinals Cornerback who just enlisted in the Army. He hopes to pass Ranger School and serve with his brother in a Ranger Batt. He passed up over $3Million dollars in his new contract. There are still a few good men in this generation.

Semper Fi,
Redman