Love him or loathe him, he nailed this one right on the head..........

[Rob]

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the
September 11 casualty and those who die serving our 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 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 upto $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. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by politicians and commanding officers.)

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 US Congress voted themselves a raise. 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 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, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm's way receives 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.

[ghixon]

Originally Posted by Rob

By Rush Limbaugh:

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.

Amen

[~ Pakiha ~]

Wow, I thought they were taken much better care of than that. That has to be one of the most embarrassing statistics I've seen. I don't think I could or would want that type of compensation for myself, and then justify giving those who truly need it soo little.

I can hear my grandma now, "Shame on you, I am so disappointed, you are better than that."

[mntbiker12]

This just shows the kind of screwy society we live in. It's along the same lines as celebrities getting paid millions of dollars, while folks like teachers, firemen, and LBS wrenches have to scrape and get by on a measly wage. I'm not saying that 9/11 victims' families don't deserve some compensation, but as the R. Windbag says, the brave folks in the military "choose" to get in harm's way, and they should be compensated accordingly.

[jonathan_sykes81]

You can think whatever you want about my personal opinion but I think that it is F-ing BS that the families of the people who were killed in the attacks are getting such ridiculous amounts of compensation. Isn't that what life insurance is for? And hey, if you chose not to have life insurance, I am sorry but that was your decision. Where is this money coming from(oh wait let me guess)? Tax dollars or did we win some lawsuit against the Al Qaeda. Well, I can assure you that I haven't seen Bin Laden in a courtroom. You know, I am sorry for the families and the tragic loss that they have had to deal with, but it's just that a tragedy.

[SAR_boats]

Interesting points, however I may be able to shed a bit more light on some things...

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.

What Rush forgot to mention is that everyone in the military has Serviceman Group Life Insurance, which pays out $250,000 to whomever the serviceman elects as benificiary regardless of how they died. This is in addition to the benifits listed above.

However, our own US Congress voted themselves a raise. 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 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, they may
receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed
them in harm's way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.

The standard pension for the military is known as "high three" where you recieve half of your base salary for your highest 3 earning years in the military. For an E-7 with 20 years, assuming that he was an E-7 for the 3 years prior to retirement, he would recieve $1857.75 every month before taxes. If he/she joined at 18, as do most, that means retirement comes at 38 years old. And usually they start a civilian career after retirement, which does not affect retirement.

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?

It is true that there are some military families who live below the poverty line. But usually it is because the man is in the service and the woman is not working because she is tending to their 3 kids they had. I won't go into the dabate over zero population growth but to survive in the world today it requires a 2 income household. But assuming the guy in uniform was a 6 year E-5 in the Navy (drawing from experience) this is what his pay would be:

Base pay(taxable):2323.80/mo
Clothing allowance(non-taxed):22.80/mo
Housing Allowance(non-taxed):688.30/mo
Food Allowance(non-taxed):279.88/mo
Flight Deck Pay(taxed):150/mo
Search and Rescue Pay(taxed):190/mo
Sea Duty Pay over 5 years(taxed):315/mo

AND:
(When in a combat zone)
No pay is taxed and you get an extra 225/month for imminent danger pay

for a grand total of:
3969.78 before taxes when in the US and
4194.78 take home when in the Persian Gulf.

not bad.

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.

I couldn't agree more. Where have the Washingtons, Pattons, MacArthurs, and Jacksons gone? What happened to leadership from the front? When I was in I never sent anyone who worked for me into any situation that I wouldn't go into myself, and frequently I would do a job myself because I wouldn't send one of my guys in to do it, because it wasn't safe.

But then again, if it was the politicians who had to drop hammers and take bullets and watch friends die and deal with nightmares, we probably wouldn't be in as many wars as we are.

rant over

[boludo]

If my wife and kids ever die and my bike breaks and I have nothing better to live for, I'll go fix these problems.

Say hello to my little friend.

IMO, nobody deserves anything. Ever. Its an overused word. If I ever become Gvr or Pres in this beautiful country, i'll see me nightly on the news or papers flipping the bird to people that think the govt exists to give handouts.

The life insurance thing is a bit tricky also. Its more costly for police, fire, etc... so these persons have to apply for insurance thru special programs. If trying to buy thru a regular insurance agent, they will get a high rate due to higher death risk.

And last, no matter the party affiliation, F all politicians. Blood sucking bastards.

Dang, I feel my blood pressure spiking.

[uzziboy]

AND:
(When in a combat zone)
No pay is taxed and you get an extra 225/month for imminent danger pay

DAMN THATS IT A PATHETIC $225 A MONTH, THEY SHOULD ADD A ZERO TO THAT FIGURE

[stinkyrider]

Originally Posted by boludo

And last, no matter the party affiliation, F all politicians. Blood sucking bastards.

Dang, I feel my blood pressure spiking.

It's my firm belief that every single politician in power right now is a complete scoundrel. From the local school board, all the way up to the Federal level.

They better cut the sh!t or else some day we might find ourselves in a second Civil War. This is the kind of corruption that breeds revolution. Just look at what happened during the waning years of the Roman Empire.

A good solution to this problem would be to put a one or two term limit on both Congress and the Senate. There wouldn't be enough time in office for the power to corrupt them and there's no incentive to backscratch and do favors for BS special interest groups because they would be zero chance for re-election.

Sorry, I know this is a mountain biking forum, NOT a political one.

[ODB]

Limbaugh could easily have made his point about an underpaid U.S. military without resorting to attacking those who tragically lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks a la that shrieking hag Anne Coulter. Of course, his audience laps this kind of shit up, so that's where he chose to go. Also, i love how the far right in this country invokes "terror, terror, terror" at every turn to justify our wholly unnecessary war in Iraq, but when someone like Limbaugh wants to minimize the suffering of the 9/11 widows, it becomes "the Sept. 11 casualty" rather than the "Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." What baldfaced hypocrisy.

[jcampbell]

Just don't join the military! You could serve your country by doing something else, like curing chain slap (its bad for the little furry animals ears) or developing a super light tube that will never flat (some people seem to be left by others in the middle of the night). Maybe you could even learn how to patrol the trails without a quad, you know something they should be doing at Santiago Oaks. Or just maybe you could make a sh8t ton of money, buy the damn Irvine company out, allow use to the beautiful land by all people, allocate a small portion in the canyon and build a DH park, run over and buy out the lifts at Mountain High (we all know they won't be getting any snow in years to come with this Global Warming), install them going up to a few of the hills, allow people to build whatever they want under approval of an expert, and let everyone have fun. This way it doesn't piss anyone off and we don't hit idiot crazy hikers dudes with spears (seriously, those things are spears in my opinion) and we all live happily ever after.

Come to think of it, there always a little surveillance. You could spend some time catching that Steven Jackson character... you know, the guy that keeps digging the holes at the Fully Loop. You would definitely be serving your country if you did this.

This rant is like the teachers... always complaining about their average annual pay raises. If you don't like the pay, don't be a teacher. You already know what your getting into. They give you a sheet that tells you what you make, what you will make if you get more schooling, and what you will make if you stay with it for years to come. If you didn't like it to begin with, why did you join.

On a serious note, a friend, a roomate, and a good friends brother (all the same person) was killed in Iraq at the beginning of the war back in May of 2004. I think he was the first from Orange to go. Sad story, but this was something he felt he had to do.
He knew what he was getting himself into and he knew the perks if he made it out. Its all the same. If you want what congress gets, be a congressman. If you want to beg on the side of the road, so be it. If you want to be a roadie... have fun checking out some other dudes ass in spandex for 3 to 4 hours.

Joking of course! Spelling and Grammer mistakes... its a rant and I don't care. Some smart ass will come back with something funny, and that's all I want. Its almost Friday.

[ShinKen]

Originally Posted by stinkyrider

It's my firm belief that every single politician in power right now is a complete scoundrel. From the local school board, all the way up to the Federal level.

They better cut the sh!t or else some day we might find ourselves in a second Civil War. This is the kind of corruption that breeds revolution. Just look at what happened during the waning years of the Roman Empire.

A good solution to this problem would be to put a one or two term limit on both Congress and the Senate. There wouldn't be enough time in office for the power to corrupt them and there's no incentive to backscratch and do favors for BS special interest groups because they would be zero chance for re-election.

Sorry, I know this is a mountain biking forum, NOT a political one.

Amen bro!! But MONEY is the ROOT of all EVIL so, maybe a little tuff to turn the whole contry.

and yes I'm prob as guilty as the next man. but still have no love for any politicians

Originally Posted by jcampbell

Joking of course! Spelling and Grammer mistakes... its a rant and I don't care. Some smart ass will come back with something funny, and that's all I want. Its almost Friday.

sI!

[jcampbell]

Originally Posted by ShinKen

But MONEY is the ROOT of all EVIL

Not true. Everything starts with the Human Brain. That damn things always gets me in trouble. If I didn't think I wanted it... I wouldn't get. If I didn't know about it, I wouldn't want it. If I was too stupid to use a CC, I wouldn't be in debt. See where I am getting at.

If I didn't think I wanted to ride the VQ, I wouldn't have just spent 128 for my own little personal hell ride with no Santa Cruz waiting for me at the end.

[stinkyrider]

Originally Posted by ODB

Limbaugh could easily have made his point about an underpaid U.S. military without resorting to attacking those who tragically lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks a la that shrieking hag Anne Coulter.

I love to hate Anne Coulter. What a crazy bitch. This cracked me up. It's from the Henry Rollins show on IFC.

[SpuDKnucklE]

SAR_Boats makes some good points, but it all boils down to this...

1. You're not going to get rich in the military.
2. You may get killed in the military.
3. There is no draft.

Politics aside, we should thank our lucky stars that there are still plenty of people out there who feel the need to give something back to this country, instead of just taking. They may not believe that everything our government decides to do is the right thing, but almost to a man (and woman) they believe in what this government stands for.

I don't kid myself into thinking I have all the facts just because I watch the news and read the paper. I don't for one second believe that just because a person has access to a microphone means that he is any more informed than I am. So I'm not going to pass judgement on the decision-makers, because I don't have the data and intel that they're using to make their decisions.

Like SAR_Boats, I'm a veteran (15 years), so I know that there are times when things happen that the public is simply not informed... for the good of everyone. I think that it's the only way to safely do certain things. So just because I sometimes disagree with the way some things are done, I have to assume that they have our best interests in mind when they do it.

Now, where was I?? Oh yeah... we're riding Cuyamaca this weekend, can't wait!

Everyone, ride safe and have tons of fun!