SwiftVets.com

[davman]

Love him or loath 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. "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 an 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..How many people can YOU send this to

[Knighthawk]

I saw this a couple of years ago, and did some research on my own, and found the claims in here to be true.

Snopes also found it to be true.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/military.htm

Just another reason to keep kerry out of the Whitehouse, not only has he voted against every military appropriations bill, he voted against meager two and three percent pay raises for our military.
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Regards,
Brian

Beware of the lollipop of mediocrity! Lick it once and you'll suck forever.

If guns kill people, then I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

Knighthawk's Pictures!

[SooZQ]

Yes, I believe that on a whole we vastly underserve
those who serve us with such great sacrifice.

Until the press found juicier stories for the evening
news, they often ran bios on service families, who
are struggling at home to make ends meet.

The white house alone doesn't bear all the responsibility
of neglect. We all need to support our troops and
their families at home.


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Really support the troops, send them a letter and care package! Visit:http://www.anysoldier.com

[Wind Walker]

Well, as much as I agree on the subject, there is a major problem I see in trying to change these things.

In an effort to "Remove These Benefits" from our concerned Senators & Congressmen, we face the issue of changing our choice for President (mine, being George W. Bush)!

We would have to support John Kerry if we're even going to have a slight chance at this mission.......reason:

We will definately need ALL those ALLIES he keeps refferring to in his stump speeches, to take away 1 penny from ANY of the above mentioned officials . They might appear to be concerned with our needs, but when it comes to removing the MONEY they have worked so hard over the MANY YEARS of collecting these well earned benefits , this will be a major fight .

My little humor point is:

That is is well known that retirement, disability, & healthcare coverage for our Veterans is mostly a joke, and needs to be revamped to equate the payment for a job well done (regardless of when), and secure the families of ALL VETERANS FOREVER!

This is something that needs to be done, without question, but if you're really serious about taking away the "free-bees" from our Washington D.C. (Country-Club-Members), i'm going to need a lot more weapons around my house than is being spoken about on a daily basis, concerning Saddam Hussien & Iraq . We're talking "Major Operation" here!

"Please take this in the same spirit it was typed in" I know this is a serious topic, but I just couldn't resist the temptation to point this out!

Have a great day,
Wind Walker

[swing votr]

Commenting on the distribution of funds to the survivors/relatives of 9/11:
I have read complaints about this elsewhere, and while I agree that its not necesarily fair (the amount and reason vs. others who could be equally deserving), I was under the pretext that these gifts were given for other reasons as well.
1. Charity- We can't dictate whether or not a country get together to help one group in need and not so much another, we can only try to make sure others aren't forgotten, especially our soldiers.

2. Government funds: I was under the assumption (and this is what I am hoping to receive comments on) that the money handed out by the government, while it was to help those in the tragedy also came with a clause that if you accepted the payments, then you would not be able to establish civil suits against the World Trade Center, insurance companies, the already troubled airlines, and so on... So its not so much that the 'Gov't' was playing favorites, but a creative way to protect troubled companies with many employees in a downturning economy (especially the airlines). Am I off target on this one?

PS. I dont think the pay rate for Senators is a bit ridiculous. I think there should be a stipulation that you only get those rates if you retire with a certain number of years under your belt, and if you are voted out (meaning someone was better than you), than you get a much smaller pension or somethin. This would allow our good rep's to be rewarded without rewarding the crappy ones... just a thought
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"I already don't miss it," he said of Washington. Asked to elaborate, he replied: "You know that great feeling you get when you stop banging your head against a wall?"

[Me#1You#10]

Moving to Geedunk Forum

Thanks