OT: Entitlements....
 

A MUST READ 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 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 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 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.

Wow,, Thanks Sharkey!! I didn't realize, those kind of Dollar Amounts, were being Paid Out!!! No wonder Insurance Rates, are moving upwards!!!!! The average Trucking Co.'s Premium, has increased 30 to 42 Percent, in the last Two Years!!!!

Yes, but in order for them to collect they give up their right to sue anybody. There were some other heavy restrictions too. I'm not sure, but they may have lost the insurance pay out too. Some people (the really wealthy) would actually be better off not collecting the benifit.

I'm so sick of watching it on TV:

"Waahh, waaaahh, my conceited stock-broker husband was minding his own business cold-calling old ladies with the latest hot stock tip when an airplane crashed thru the wall into him. The US government should give me money. The New York state government should give me money. The New York city government should give me money. The victims' fund should give me money. The owners of the building should give me money. The owners of the airplane should give me money..."

Excuse me, most of the normal citizens who worked in the buildings and who died there had the same personal obligation to plan for the care of their families in the event of their death as the rest of us. Granted, they died in a bizarre manner. AND it was not any fault of their own. BUT it was also not the fault of the building owners, the American public, and city government, or the state of New York. (I'm not intending to leave out any of the victims from the other two planes, it's just that it seems that the twin tower issue is heard more often).

People die every day in unexpected ways. Their surviving families are faced with the prospect of healing through their grief AND dealing with financial issues. Rarely does a family get a bag of cash dropped in their laps from an outside source unless it comes from some insurance or representative of the entity that CAUSED the death.

Any idiot with the gall to b!tch about not receiving enough money for the death of their 9/11 victim needs to bite my @ss. This was an act of terrorism. They should make sure that all insurance policies pay the face amount, then be thrilled beyond all reason if they see a penny more - cause they didn't do anything to DESERVE it.

Sickening.

I wonder what these guys would think?

What I don't understand is that if these people think they deserve a big chunk of money, then why not pressure the government to extract that money from the ones who truly CAUSED the deaths?
My idea is to go over, kick some butt, and confiscate eough resources (of any kind) to compensate those families that lost loved ones as well as pay our expenses for having to go over there and kick their butts!
If hussein is going to mess with us, we need to knock him and his cronies and crook partners (Al Queda in particular!) off and turn the oil valves on until the bill is paid!!
Just my slightly twisted .02!

i lost several friends in the WTC.

One of them was a friend of mine's father. Iknow that without themoney that cantor fitz organized forthe families my friend and his mom and brother would be in big trouble. His mother has MS and is slowly dying. With ever increasing medical bills and his little brother just startign college. Jon (my friend) is the only person who can make $ in his famiy. He just graduated college and the only job he coudl get pays him less than 30k before taxxes. They will most likely have to sell thier house and his mom won't be able to get the level of medical care she really needs.

That being said they are happy that cantor fitz is taking care of them. They are not *****ign and moaning that its not enough $. They are makign due with the death benfits they've recieved and trying to move on.


This country is a mess and issues with WTC victims $$$ are just the tip of the iceberg.

I can honestly say i feel more for the civilians that died in the WTC than the fireman and cops. The fireman and cops died doign thier jobs. They knew taht they could died from one of thier job hazards its just so happened a ton of them died on one day from a big hazard.

It take sballs to run into an burnign or hazardous biulding no question abotu taht. BUT they knew the risks when they went in thier. The stock brokers and gov't worked that were just going about thier business had no idea that they might die that morning.

Not to mention, for those reservists and military who have thought ahead like Troutly, ALL life insurance policies have an exclusion for acts of war. So if you have a career and have planned ahead yet joined the reserves to helpout with student loans etc. and now have been called out, your family may not be protected.

As for the congressional pay/retirement. It will never change. If your boss called you and all of his empoyees in and asked you to vote for a pay cut and lower retirement benefits, what would you do?

It's not much different with the frivolous lawsuits. We will probably never have any kind of tort reform as many of the law makers as well as the largest lobbying group are attorneys.

I like the part about turning on the oil for free until the bills are paid!

and to further that concept. The enforcement of the UN's resolutions to Iraq to disarm shouldn't be costing a damn dime! It's called the spoils of war. The proceeds from the oil sales from the Iraqi fields should go to pay for the costs involved with the enforcement of the resolution as well as reconstruction costs.

"The only country in the World that will ever defeat the United States of America......is the United States of America"
- Bill Cunningham, 700WLW Cincinnati Conservative talk show host

He is correct, scary correct.

I agree with Rush. As aweful, tragic, horrific and emmotional as this is, there is a reality to it as well. You can't throw out reason and practicle thinking and replace it with emmotional decision making. We all wish nothing but the best for all these poor victim's families, and we pray for them and wish it had not ever, ever happened.....but that does not mean you just start dishing out $$. Charities and fundraisers are different, but if the gov hands out cash, someone has to pay this bill, $$ is not free....that someone is us. I doubt that if my family members were killed in a tragic act of violence that these families would put up $$ for me. We all wish deserving people could be compensated for their tragic losses, but that is not reality, and niether is paying out HUGE $$ to these poor families, while letting hte poor families of the military killed in duty everyday wind up with a few $1,000.

You have to take care of your own while you are still here, those who did not plan ahead have no one to blame but themselves, they are getting way more than any other citizen would get. I'm sorry, I know this is a touchy subject, but it is the truth.

Puder, I understand your freind's situation is unique, but I'm not too terribley sure much changes. As sad as that sounds, it is reality. I hope them the best, I really hope them the best. Sounds like a tough deal.

As mentioned above, the founders of our great land would be having siezures if they saw this craziness. Let's think reasonably here folks, it's the only way to keep the train on the track.

Thanks for listening to my babling.....

allan thanks for teh kind words.

They will get it worked out. They aren;t *****ing about the $$$. They are glad that they are getting helped out cus they need it.


I think more people shodul be like them in this case just be glad theya re gettgin some kind of help.






That ALL being said I am NOT a fan of handouts in any situation. Hell i don't think poor and starving people shodul be given free handouts. When you get something for nothing you don't care abotu it and you certainly don't respect it. Make them do something and in return they get the assitance.

Puder,

I'm familiar with the Cantner-Fitz benefits that the company is paying. I think that is admirable of them. I also think it is admirable of all of the US citizens who have sent money or comfort supplies to the city. My kids wrote letters and sent toys.

I'm pleased that your friends' family is making good use of the handout. I am also happy to hear that they are thankful for it.

Cause the bottom line is that the man sounds horribly underinsured. Maybe he was uninsurable, which is hard to plan around, but chances are that he was very insurable earlier in his life. I hope that the family's medical issues turn out as best as they can and hope everything works out for them.

What we all need to understand is that once we become adults and start being more than simply a "family member", that we must make uncomfortable plans regarding the care of the families we are responsible for in the event that we are unable to provide earnings.

I'm not an insurance salesman, and in fact, am resistant to buying "too much" insurance, but we must make sure our kids and spouses are left not only "debt free" but with some source of money to live off of. While my wife will be able to find employment if I croak, her earning capabilities won't support the family AND create savings for kids college and the other stuff that is important to me.

We're big boys with bog boys' toys. Get enough life insurance to pay off your house and toys if you croak. Make out a will. If you have significant net worth, consult an estate planner for tips.

Let's not all hope that somebody puts a jar out on the pay counter at Waffle House to raise money for our wife and kids. This is something that each of you needs to do. Sh!t happens.

My mom and dad went from healthy and lively with Dad making a good living to both of them being dead - it all happened in 4 seconds. We don't always have the ability to know how long we will live. If your boat will run over 60, then there is a remote possibility that you may be the one in a million that has a freak mechanical or steering issue that results in a fatality. And we ALL drive cars - do I need to say more?

I know this thread didn't intend to get warped into a lesson on making these kinds of plans, but while we're on it - I KNOW there are some of you guys out there who need to make better plans...

sorry.

In an extreme situation like we experienced on Sept. 11th there is and never could be a happy medium for disbursments. One of the things you must factor into the equation is the size difference of the eligable group of recipients. One would assume that the gov't is prepaired for the worst case scenario when dealing with massive military casualties. Assuming the worst case that 20 + thousand troops died (God forbid) in active duty, would they all get the death benifit (1000 per month). In these days of Extreme technological warfare that number of casualties is realistic. I just heard on Cnn a few days ago that Our gov't has purchased 70,000 body bags....umm who are they for? The gov't has factored military death benifits over and over I'm sure. To compare the 3000 + casualities on Sept. 11th and military death benefits is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Think about it. It only takes one rag head to push a buttom the size of the blower switch on your boat to wipe out THOUSANDS.

Mcollinstn.....excellent advice, glad you chimed in.

NeedSpeed, intersting info, but I have learned that CNN sometimes reports things a little....how do I say this.....ummm.......INACCURATE. Not sure I buy the 70k body bag thing if they reported it......there is a reason why they call it the Clinton News Network.

Thanks for the info though;) :)

OH yeah.....I remember hearing the interview from the head guy at Cantor Fitzgerald the day after the attacks, just devestated as he was explaining they had lost 700 people (or what ever the total was)......it was just aweful, I'm getting chills just typing it. Something I will never forget as long as I live....that poor man giving that sureal interview....man-o-man.......just really hit home how aweful the entire ordeal was/is......:( :(

The reason the country is having so much trouble is the founding fathers base the government on a self reliant populace, not one that feels it needs to be taken care of. As far as the 911 victims, the reason they are getting so much more than the average victim of any crime is that it is the pc thing to do. Don't musundertand me, I have sympathy for the victims, but no more so than other victims of crime or even accidents. Death is death, while sometimes tragic and temporarly avoidable, it is in fact inevitable.

Our country simply cannot afford to take care of everyone, however they should take better care of the men and women that provide the blanket of freedom and protection that protect us.