Death Benefits
 

By Rush Limbaugh

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 who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough.

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 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 50 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 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 being 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 harm's 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.

God, yes, GOD, Bless America, and those who protect her!

He's got a point. Though I can't summon up enough empathy to bother forwarding the thing--it's just going to get sent to people's trash folders.

Rush is a self-righteous, egocentric, blithering idiot. But he does have a point there. I've often thought the same thing myself.

However, I should point out once again that Rush is a self-righteous, egocentric, blithering idiot. He represents everything wrong with this country.

take into account how much a lot of people who worked in the wtc earned .well not really a lot of restaurant workers/janitors died too

plus why didn't hey have life insurance

etc. plus ugh. i dunno. nevermind.

No, those are all valid points. They deserve the money. But the discrepancy is huge.

they're not really valid points because is it the government's place?

maybe it's the government's place because maybe they should have protected its citizens

of course us air or whatever it is is a private company

and whoever built the wtc was a private company too

but shouldn't the us government have regulated shit like they promised??

and is it the us government's fault if these people didn't have life insurance?

nevermind

no government can guarantee you safety. if you get murdered by a serial killer should your family be paid because the government didn't prevented?

and no it's not to the second question.

let's say someone breaks out of jail and murders you. should your family receive compensation? maybe, cuz the government should have been protecting you from this person

the government also i don't know, i'm sure the faa in some way regulates airplane safety and as far as structural safety goes too i'm sure it regulates it (the wtc collapsed because of structural imperfections). plus you could even get on a larger issue and go, hey these people weren't technically supposed to be in the country or whatever i don't know. but i think you can make an argument that the government is liable but you can also make an argument that it isn't. and you can also make an argument about how much compensation is due. if they were big time ceos then a lot is due but of course if they're big time ceos their families were probably already set up for life with like stock options and life insurance and other assets or whatever.

no. save perhaps a glaring error on behalf of someone that works there, maybe you could sue them, but i don't see how it's the government's direct fault in the case of a jail's inadequacy.

LIBERTARIANISM STRIKES AGAIN

OH SHIT I HAVE TURNED BLUE FOREVER BECAUSE I EAT SILVER

I never thought I'd say this. Never ever. But... i agree with him. OMFG. I truly believe that it is not the gov't s responsibility to pay the families of the victims except for what the victims would have earned had they continued on their career track there. It was great that America all pitched in and donated a shitload to the victims and whatnot, but the government shouldn't have had to. Does the government pay when Ella Maye's apartment building collapses in an earthquake and kills people because it wasn't up to the building code and the regulation committee (sponsored by the fed govt) didn't catch it? NO. Did we pay millions of dollars to the Oklahoma bombing people? (i don't think we did but i cuold be wrong on that one) Of course the gov't should've seen this coming. It had the information, the pentagon just sat on their asses about it. then maybe they should pay for it out of their own personal pockets (which i guess taxpayers pay for anyway, but it's the principle), but I don't want the fed gov't to have to spend that money on the people themselves.

Papa Smurf! Papa Smurf! Ryan finally hit puberty!