Posted on 01/31/2005 9:28:14 AM PST by toldyou
Confirmed to be true on www.snopes.com
Rush is definitely controversial. I think he got this one right! Love him or loathe 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 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.
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 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.
The benefits for military are always considered more or less comparable to any government position----worker's comp. or comparable entitlements in the private sector---
the 9-11 are paying off like a life insurance policy held at your request by the government itself as insurer. There IS a piercing contradiction in all of this.
Agreed. They believe it is THEIR tragedy only and they should have the only voice in the matter (ala Kirsten Breitweiser, jackass from NJ). This is one of the reasons why the World Trade Center reconstruction is progressing so slowly.
I believe the first of many steps in *fixing* this, is a bill before congress to raise the death benefit to $100k.
I agree with Rush: tragic as it was, the 9-11 survivors' families don't deserve that kind of money; our brave Military does. What's done is done, but let's fix the Military's 2nd class treatment.
I never did get the reason for raising all that money for the families of 9/11.
It was on TV.
The families of the 9-11 victims, were given comensation because the lawyers would have gotten involved and sued everyone and everything that moved, the cost would have been far greater, It is sad, that our society has stooped to that level but it is so.
Post the link, please.
Perhaps you missed where it says some of what you posted is not Limbaugh's:
This piece is also circulating with a coda that looks like it was tacked on by someone else, possibly as a commentary on the article that has now mistakenly been assumed a part of the original article itself: "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." — Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.The claim that Congressmen can receive lavish pensions after serving only a single term in Congress (eventually totalling into the millions of dollars) and that they neither pay into nor receive benefits from the Social Security fund is misinformation already covered on a separate page of this site. (As of 1998, the average annuity for retired members of Congress was about $48,000.)
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.
it is time to forward this to as many people as you can.
Snopes or not, no way those are Limbaugh's words. That's the signature of a spammer.
The payments to the survivors of WTC were granted unconstitutionally. Of course that didn't stop them. Where does that come from, other than by pandering politicians...it's certainly not for the "general welfare". Oh, but, that's what politicians do best!
Thanx!
Why I feel great compassion for the families that have been affected by 9/11, I have always questioned the HUGE amounts of money being given to these families, many families lose husbands,wives, mothers and fathers and there is a huge need to support these families as well as military families. The sense of entitlement is just disgusting and it is time that this generation (X) deal with it since it is apparent that are parents are not going to.
I may be wrong but it was my understanding that all those millions received by survivors of the 9/11 victims were private donations to charitable organizations distributed to them.
Billions were raised from donations from Americans.
How much of the money received was from government and how much from private funds?
Your reply was appreciated. The curtness of it was not.
This explains it all:
On Sept. 22, 2001, Congress created the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund without any financial cap as part of an airline bailout package, and as a fast and, it hoped, less painful alternative to lawsuits.
In exchange for giving up their right to sue, which some lawyers argued could be a draining and risky option, relatives of dead victims were told that the average payment would be about $1.5 million, tax free, after deductions for life insurance and other possible benefits.
Thank you for the link.
Any member of the military service is eligible for a low-cost Servicemans Group Life Insurance (SGLI) policy of up to $250,000 for a nominal fee. Is Limbaugh suggesting that we just give these policies away to anyone in uniform?
Thank you!
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