Limbaugh, Entitlement, and the Wearied Warriors

[Timber Loftis]

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 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 11. 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 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 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.

[ 06-09-2004, 02:46 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[Seraph]

Mr. Limbaugh seems to have failed to include the (up to) $250,000 life insurance policy that servicemembers on active duty, ready reservists, and others* can get via Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) for $16.25 a month.

*others inlcude cadets and midshipmen of the four service academies, members of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and members of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service.

[the new JR Jansen]

Well, i do agree that it certainly looks that way. But, and correct me if i'm wrong here, the spet. 11th payments are a one time deal. Let's take a person who can benefit from the $833 a month for 40 years without kids. That would amount to around $399.000. Granted not the 1.1 mil but still more then the 250.000 that was guaranteed. And i'm not sure about how long this keeps up, ie does it stop when your at the pension age or not ?

[promethius9594]

Seraph seems to have failed to include the (up to) any amount of life insurance policy that anyone can get via life insurance companies.

those people in 9/11 were insured, and they got compensation ON TOP OF that insurance... and in large lump sums. the average is 1.1 MILLION dollars. if the serviceman died while his wife was twenty-five, and she didnt get remarried and lived for sixty years, that would still only amount to roughly 450,000 dollars. thats a LONG cry short of an average 1.1 million, and thats about the MAXIMUM that anyone could get from that.

Mr. limbaugh is right, when the lower income brackets in the military qualify for food stamps, theres something wrong with that.

[Seraph]

Seraph seems to have failed to include the (up to) any amount of life insurance policy that anyone can get via life insurance companies.

First: Do you think that any life insurance company is going to give good rates to someone who sands a good chance of being shot at in the next few years? There comes a point where it becomes too expensive given the lousy pay soldiers tend to get.

Second:
The US government tends to rather strongly discourage services members from getting supplemental life insurance. For one example, on September 23, 2002 Army Pfc. Marlin Rockhold took out a $272,000 supplemental life insurance policy. Three days later he canceled that policy, apparently under orders from a noncommissioned officer. A little less then 8 months later Pfc. Rockhold took a bullet to the back of the head.

The private insurance companies often claim that officers and senior enlisted leaders at installations across the country regularly discourage subordinates from augmenting their government life insurance. The Defense Department claims that such intervention is necessary to protect young and financially unsophisticated troops from the aggressive marketing tactics and deceptive sales practices used by some solicitors.

In accordance with it's "Our soldiers are too stupid to take care of themselves" policy, the Defense Department, under current law, regulates the time, manner, and place in which insurance companies and agents, may solicit products on military bases.

So I disagree with your claim that a soldier can easily get supplemental life insurance.

those people in 9/11 were insured, and they got compensation ON TOP OF that insurance... and in large lump sums. the average is 1.1 MILLION dollars. if the serviceman died while his wife was twenty-five, and she didnt get remarried and lived for sixty years, that would still only amount to roughly 450,000 dollars. thats a LONG cry short of an average 1.1 million, and thats about the MAXIMUM that anyone could get from that.

You just claimed that a soldier could get as much life insurance as he wanted, so how is 450,000 dollers the maximum? If he can get as much insurance as he wants then there is no maximum.

Also, why do you assume that the people killed on 9/11 were insured? Most officeworkers don't think about the possibility that they will be killed at work. It's a little more of a concern when your a soldier.

[ 06-09-2004, 04:35 AM: Message edited by: Seraph ]

[Davros]

Well this Limbaugh dude is known as a lying lier . In this case, while he does his usual spin job flavouring of the heartstring sentiments, he still has some good base points about the inequities between the haves and the have nots. The term "entitlement politcs" is a good fit, and now everyone else will have their hand out for handouts.

[promethius9594]

You just claimed that a soldier could get as much life insurance as he wanted

no, what i STATED, was that in direct contention with the point that US soldiers can have life insurance and therefore their families deserve less compensation than normal citizen is the direct FACT that anyone who worked in the WTC could just have easily taken out life ensurance and therefore their families dont deserve any more compensation than the soldiers families.

wow, that was one LONG sentence.

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by the new JR Jansen: Well, i do agree that it certainly looks that way. But, and correct me if i'm wrong here, the spet. 11th payments are a one time deal. Let's take a person who can benefit from the $833 a month for 40 years without kids. That would amount to around $399.000. Granted not the 1.1 mil but still more then the 250.000 that was guaranteed. And i'm not sure about how long this keeps up, ie does it stop when your at the pension age or not ?

YES it does stop at 65 years of age, from that point on you get Social Security, while you still have priviledges of shopping on base and getting medical attention on base, that is a small thing compared to putting your life on the line for 20+ years while in the military.

As for the insurance there maybe a cap of 450,000 for that type of insurance only!!! As a citizen of the USA any military member has the right to buy private life insurance for what ever amount they can afford, just like any other citizen. To bring up something that each and everyone of us should take care of themselves,but didn't or did and hold that up as a reason for "X Y or Z" is just plain silly.

[Azred]

I have mentioned the "gimme gimme" attitude of the average surviving family of 11 September victims several times before. They started bickering about money not long after the initial shock of the events settled down, trying to decide who should receive more. Personally, I wouldn't have set aside a special fund for them--if they didn't have life insurance, then too bad.
Those in the military, however, I would make absolutely certain that they all have adequate coverage, increase their benefits, and increase their pay.

It is ridiculous that Congress has the power to set their own pay with no one to counter them. No organization, in my recollection, has ever successfully and responsibly policed itself or set reasonable limitations on itself. Most organizations degenerate into power and money grabs.

[Timber Loftis]

I wonder how a candidate running on a "Congressional Pay and Benefits Cuts" platform would do? I'm sure it'd be hard to get the people's support with every member of Congress against you though.