Touchy thoughts

[Chy]

Love him or loath him, he does give you things to ponder.

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.

"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.If your interested there
is more.......................

This must be a campaign issue in 2004. Keep it going.
SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth the read. It's short
and to the point.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during
election years. Our Senators and Congressmen do not
pay into Social Security. Many years ago they voted
in their own benefit plan. In more recent years, no
congressperson has felt the need to change it. For
all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay
until they die, except it may increase from time to
time for cost of living adjustments. For example,
former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their
wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 - that's Seven
Million, Eight Hundred Thousand), with their wives
drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their
lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. These
little perks they voted for themselves is free to
them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan.

The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly
from the General Fund--our tax dollars at work! From our own Social
Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into
-- every payday until we retire (which amount is
matched by our employer) --we can expect to get an
average $1,000 per month after retirement. Or, in
other words, we would have to collect our average of
$1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one month to
equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small
change were made. And that change would be to jerk
the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the
Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social
Security plan with the rest of us and then watch how
fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of
awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will
evolve. WE, each one of us... can make a difference..