Let's dissect this latest Email from rush limbaugh

I haven't read it all just yet, as I've just had breakfast not long ago. It's full of a bunch of non-facts (i.e.: lies) and crappola that should be pretty easy to refute, and I've seen a lot of this before. Make sure to hold your nose before continuing...

---

Maybe the recent rehab' he completed really got his head clear. I'm not really a fan of his but he is right on target with this. I am sending this to over a dozen others.

Subject: FYI: Social Security


>If you have nothing else to ruin your day,
> > >read the following - It certainly will!!
> > >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 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..
> > >
> > >
> > >How many people can YOU send this to

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/military.htm (True)

It seems like the parts of it that are false are substantially key to the argument.

What this piece doesn't mention is that military personnel are automatically insured (unless they decline the coverage) under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, which pays $250,000 to the family of a serviceman who is killed while on active service. This is a far cry from the average of $1.65 million that will be paid to the families of September 11 victims (and servicemen have to pay premiums of $20 per month for the coverage), but it makes the picture regarding compensation for servicemen's families look far less bleak than presented here.

...

The claim that Congressmen can receive lavish pensions after serving only a single term in Congress (eventually totalling into the millions of dollars) and that they neither pay into nor receive benefits from the Social Security fund is misinformation already covered on a separate page of this site. (As of 1998, the average annuity for retired members of Congress was about $48,000.)

Search for some of the key phrases on http://www.snopes.com.

They've debunked pretty much all of that, I think.

and Rush or whomever, leaves out the SS benefit for survivors.

Snopes says that congressmen only retire on about $45,000 - $50,000 per year while we retire on $13,000 from SS.

Also, that most servicemen have insurance, but of course so did most of the WTC dead.

It actually is true that senators and congressmen have a better deal thatn you do and that the surviving families of WTC dead got a better deal than servicemembers do. This is an overstatement of the case but not necessarily false.

maybe people get upset about it if journalists were able to film the caskets and the weeping widows and the burn victims. instead Rush is simultaneously defending Bush at every turn while somehow blaming "entitlement politics." Perhaps the Oxycontin created new neural pathways in his brain that allow him to argue with himself.

that's been making its way around the web for a long time. Interestingly it mentions Senator Byrd and another Democratic Senator. I thought it funny because Byrd and his wife are not exactly spring chickens and are highly unlikely to draw that much in retirement. More divisiveness from rush....