One of the things that really makes me wonder

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 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 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.

OMG I agree with Rush about something! Please kill me! Seriously though, this is a bit apples and oranges. The money being paid to families of victims of 9/11 came from public donations which were huge due to the shock of the whole thing, not from government coffers. On the other hand, casualties of war have traditionally been hidden from our view... glossed over and dehumanized. If the public reacted to them the way they did to 9/11 it wouldn't bode well for the government's ability to talk people into sacrificing themselves for whatever the cause du jour happens to be. Having said all that, it sickens me how poorly we compensate the armed forces and their families. It's truly shamefull.

OMG I agree with Chip about something!

OMG I agree with Rush about something! Please kill me! Seriously though, this is a bit apples and oranges. The money being paid to families of victims of 9/11 came from public donations which were huge due to the shock of the whole thing, not from government coffers. On the other hand, casualties of war have traditionally been hidden from our view... glossed over and dehumanized. If the public reacted to them the way they did to 9/11 it wouldn't bode well for the government's ability to talk people into sacrificing themselves for whatever the cause du jour happens to be. Having said all that, it sickens me how poorly we compensate the armed forces and their families. It's truly shamefull.

Sadly, Chip, most of the money did not come from the general public.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9087/index1.html

Holy crap! That's really disturbing and I stand corrected. Thanks for the link. The rest of my point still stands though.

had to research what you said because I was under that impression too - it's "fun" to learn more disturbing crap about the country I live in

Great article Chip, it illustrates perfectly typical political knee-jerkism.