Please read the following from Rush.
Subject: What's a Military Family Worth?
by Rush Limbaugh, www.RushLimbaugh.com, 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.
Editors note: Is it too "politically incorrect" or insensitive to pose the fundamental question WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OBLIGATED TO COMPENSATE THE SURVIVORS OF THE 9/11 VICTIMS AT ALL?
FACTS:
1. No amount of money will bring them back.
2. Their survivors are no better or worse off financially than had their loved one perished in a traffic accident on the way to work
that morning.
3. After all, employer death benefits, commercial life insurance, Social Security, etc. are designed for just such contingencies.
4. Other catastrophes, such as Oklahoma City, have not generated carte blanch to the Federal treasury. Is this a precedent we're ready
to continue? What if the next terror attack is a nuke that kills millions?
5. And of course, the basic asymmetry of payment compared to our military personnel as covered in the basic text.
6. I'd never succeed as a politician!
I had never thought it about until I read it. I does not strike me as "right" that those who take on the monumental task of defending our country should have their survivors treated so poorly in comparison to those who had the misfortune of being killed in a terrorist attack.
What do you think?
Green