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For the month of May 2005, my webpages received
over 80,000 visitors. Thank you for passing the word about the sites. After the below piece on Social
Security and a New Jersey State disgrace against 50 families of military veterans, I have listed the sites that receive the
most amount of visitors.
Thanks Again!
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 6:34 AM
Subject: RE: PLACE ALL POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY.
The
article concerning Congressmen and Social Security makes a good story, unfortunately, it’s not true. The following
pertains (source – www.snopes.com):
This piece has been circulating on the Internet since April 2000. So much
of it is outdated, inaccurate, or misleading, it's difficult to know where to begin.
- It
is not true that Congressmen do not pay into the Social Security fund. Since 1984 they have paid into the fund just as most
everyone else does. (A few odd exceptions to the Social Security program still exist, both inside and outside of government,
but not for members of Congress.)
- It
was true prior to 1984 that Congressmen did not pay into the Social Security fund because they participated in a separate
program for civil servants (the Civil Service Retirement System, or CSRS), but that program was closed to government employees
hired after 1983:
In 1983, Public Law
98-21 required Social Security coverage for federal civilian employees first hired after 1983 and closed the Civil Service
Retirement System (CSRS) to new federal employees and Members of Congress. All incumbent Members of Congress were required
to be covered by Social Security, regardless of when they entered Congress. Members who had participated in CSRS before 1984
could elect to stay in that plan in addition to being covered by Social Security or elect coverage under an 'offset plan'
that integrates CSRS and Social Security. Under the CSRS Offset Plan, an individual's contributions to CSRS and their pension
benefits from that plan are reduced ('offset') by the amount of their contributions to, and benefits from, Social Security.
- It
is not true that Congressmen "continue to draw their same pay, until they die." The size of their pensions is determined by
a number of factors (primarily length of service, but also factors such as when they joined Congress, their age at retirement,
their salary, and the pension options they chose when they enrolled in the retirement system) and by law cannot exceed 80%
of their salary at the time of their retirement.
- It
is not true that Congressmen "paid nothing in on any kind of retirement," and that their pension money "comes right out of
the General Fund." Whether members of Congress participate in the older Civil Service Retirement System or the newer Federal
Employees' Retirement System (FERS), their pensions are funded through a combination of general tax provisions and contributions
from the participants. Right now, members of Congress in the FERS plan must pay 1.3% of their salary to FERS and 6.2% in Social
Security taxes.
It is true that, if current pension levels and cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for Congress members continue to apply
in the future, some former members of Congress could conceivably collect millions of dollars in annuities over the course
of their lifetimes. However, the huge dollar amounts bandied about in e-mails like the ones quoted above are based upon extreme
cases: those of politicians who entered Congress at a relatively early age, served for several decades, and retired while
still young enough to potentially live for another several decades. These cases are the rare exceptions, based upon the hypothetical
assumption that a few long-serving members of Congress who retired while in their mid-50s will live well past the age of 80.
(Even the person who collects a modest salary/pension of $40,000 per year stands to take in a million dollars over the course
of 25 years.)
As of 1998, the average annuity for retired members of Congress was $50,616 for those who
retired under CSRS and $46,908 for those who retired under FERS. Those figures are quite good (about 2-3 times better than
the pension collected by the average worker), but not quite the highway robbery these e-mails make them out to be.
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"If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted
and maybe good changes will evolve."
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REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT!
KEEP IT GOING!!!!
2008 Election Issue!!
GET
A BILL STARTED TO PLACE ALL POLITICIANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY.
This
must be an issue in "2008 ". Please! Keep it going.
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SOCIAL SECURITY:
(This
is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)
Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years.
Our
Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.
You see, Social
Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan
for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their
own benefit plan .
In more recent years, no congressperson
has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.
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..
This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two Dignitaries. For example, Senator
Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand
Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives.
Younger Dignitaries who retire
at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.
Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00.
NADA....ZILCH...
This little perk 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 Funds;
"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 of $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 (1) month to equal Senator! Bill Bradley's benefits!
Social
Security could be very good if only one small change were made.
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
then
sit back..... and 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.
How many people can YOU send this to?
Better yet.....
How many people WILL you send this to?? IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ARE
REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT!
KEEP
IT GOING!!!!
2008 Election Issue!!
***********************************
New Jersey's State Veteran Memorial Cemetery
Since Federal grant money goes to this New Jersey State Veterans
Cemetery, all Americans have a say in how these veterans graves are being disgraced...
I need your opinion. Since April of this
year, I've been helping on the internet, a new friend of mine, who has had a problem with the State of New Jersey.
His parents are buried in a New Jersey State Veterans Memorial Cemetery, which has flooding problems. The New Jersey Veterans Memorial Cemetery has wetlands.
For three years now, Kevin Farley has tried
to get Federal, and New Jersey State Officials and Politicians interested in what should be ALL their concern.
Kevin has received the complete runaround. (Personally, I believe it is a total disgrace.)
After it rains moderately, anywhere from 40 to 50 graves around his parents'
grave are flooded for a good number of days. The clay soil keeps the water at the surface. Unless,
visitors to these 40 to 50 graves are wearing high boots, the visitors would have to do their visiting from their cars.
However, the grave that they are visiting, along with the others around it, maybe under at least six inches of water.
The Governor of the State of New Jersey admits to the flooding problem,
but says there is no money to fix the problem. However, when it comes to television cameras, newspaper reporters
and the general public, the New Jersey Governor and his fellow NJ politicians always seem to have another Veterans Memorial
to build and dedicate.
I guess since the general public usually doesn't visit veterans cemeteries, New Jersey
politicians are safe to continue their "Politics As Usual..."
These days, dedicating new veterans memorials gets more Face-Time than just kissing
babies!
Thanks
Jack
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"Support Your Troops By Supporting Their
Benefits"
"Cut Benefits for Vets."
Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission Set Up By Leaders of Congress
HONORABLE VETERAN MOCKED FOR
HIS PTSD
 PLEASE PRESS THE ABOVE PICTURE
FOR AN UPDATE ON THE MARINE.
WHETHER INTENTIONAL OR NOT...
LEARN
THE STORY OF HOW A DISABLED VETERAN FATHER HAD TO FIGHT
HIS OWN LAWYERS IN ORDER TO SHARE CUSTODY OF HIS TWO MINOR
CHILDREN...
ALL AMERICANS
Better watch this inspiring reveille call. Are you awake?
Leo
God Bless America;
The Rights And and The Freedom,
We fought for,
So Help me God.
GySgt
Angelo Vitalone Sr.
Semper Fi
TODAY'S BRAVE AND HONORABLE MILITARY
IS TOMORROW'S VETERANS
WITH THE HELP OF INTERNET
SUPPORTERS,
Former CAP Marine and Webmaster Jack
Cunningham,
a PTSD Disabled Vet Takes
On New Jersey's Office Of Attorney Ethics' Corruption...
Official Website For The Combined Action Program (CAP)
TODAY'S BRAVE AND HONORABLE MILITARY
IS TOMORROW'S VETERANS
A
HONORABLE, DISABLED CAP VETERAN OF THE VIETNAM WAR BATTLES THE
STATE OF NEW JERSEY OVER THE LEGAL MALPRACTICE OF ONE OF
THEIR VICE-CHAIRMAN OF ATTORNEY ETHICS.
| PRESS PICTURE FOR LARGER COPY |
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| PRESS PICTURE FOR LARGER COPY |
Above is Jack Cunningham with one of the boys from the
Duc Duc Resettlement Village.
Below is the full picture of the same scene.
| PRESS PICTURE FOR LARGER COPY |
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| PRESS PICTURE FOR LARGER COPY |
NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY ETHICS PROTECTS ONE
OF THEIR VICE-CHAIRMAN AGAINST A HONORABLE VETERAN AND HIS CLEAR EVIDENCE.
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Local Heroes
December 20, 2004
By Andrew Borene
"I think that there is no greater gift than for a man
to be
willing to risk his life for the freedom of strangers." |
Op-Ed Contributor: Local Heroes
December 20, 2004
By ANDREW BORENE
Minneapolis - IF the Pentagon hopes to start bringing American troops home
from Iraq while also increasing security there, it will have to find a way to do more with less. One approach could be expanding
the Marine Corps combined-action program, an initiative that was successful in Vietnam and has shown early promise in Iraq.
The concept behind the program is that if American and foreign troops operate
together, each will gain knowledge from the other as to the best way to counter an insurgency. In Vietnam, platoons were created
that combined marines and Vietnamese militia members. The Americans were handpicked, chosen because they had shown particular
respect for the local culture. They were expected to live in the villages they were assigned to defend, striving to "work
themselves out of a job" by training their Vietnamese counterparts in police work and security operations.
The most striking success of the program was a rapid increase in actionable
intelligence. Living in Vietnamese hamlets for months, the marines got a chance to get to know the locals, who in general
had kept a careful neutrality in the war. This helped to humanize the American presence and reduced the passive support many
civilians had been giving to Vietcong guerrillas. For many, their respect for (or fear of) the communist guerrillas waned,
and they broke their silence about intelligence leads.
In the long run, it was one of the few efforts that managed to win some "hearts
and minds" in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the top brass lost interest in the program in the early 1970's and, well, the rest is
history.
Last year, under the leadership of Gen. James Mattis, members of the First
Marine Division in western Iraq began adapting the program to aid poorly trained Iraqi National Guard and police forces. Although
it is too soon to declare success, reports from the military and the news media suggest that Iraqis in the combined-action
program perform better in combat, have higher morale and are considerably more reliable than their regular Iraqi military
counterparts.
Expanding the program would be best accomplished by teaming coalition troops
with Iraqi security troops, or even paramilitary groups as in Vietnam, and placing them in cities along the main supply routes.
This would significantly bolster the coalition's ability to gauge popular sentiment and gather intelligence leads on the pursuit
of enemy leaders. It would also reduce the high profile of the coalition forces.
While the situations in Vietnam and Iraq are not identical, when it comes
to battling insurgents it is always vital to erase their advantages in popular support and local knowledge. A few good marines
learned how to do that during Vietnam; perhaps trying it again in Iraq can bring about a different ending.
Andrew Borene, a law student at the University of Minnesota, was a first lieutenant
with the Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. He is an adviser to Operation Truth, a veterans' advocacy group.
*******************************************************
http://www.CapVeterans.com
Hi! My name is Shane and I'm two years old.
My father is in the Navy... (Press HERE to learn more.)
| THE LAST AMERICANS TO LIVE IN DUC DUC. |
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| THE LAST AMERICANS TO LIVE IN DUC DUC. |
COMBINED ACTION PROGRAM (CAP)
PLEASE PRESS THE BELOW
LIFE MAGAZINE COVER TO LEARN ABOUT THE VIETNAM UNIT THAT HAD
THE NICKNAME "THE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS WITH
RIFLES."
This Marine unit was so successful
in Vietnam that it was activated for this new war on terrorism.
| PLEASE
PRESS THE BELOW ARTICLE TO READ |
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PLEASE PRESS THE ABOVE ARTICLE TO READ |
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWYERS AND ATTORNEYS
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A
PIECE OF FORGOTTEN AMERICAN HISTORY
THE
BATTLE OF MINISINK was such an embarrassment
to
the Americans that it took 43 years,
before
the bodies of the veterans were collected and buried.
However,
when these veterans did get buried with honors,
15,000
Americans showed up to give them their long, overdue respect.
HOSPITAL ROCK, MINISINK
Please press the link to learn the details.
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What's
missing from this below picture is a New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) Tunnel. The tunnel was washed
downstream about a half of a mile.
The above stream is cutting across a disabled
vet's driveway... It's a tough one to cross, especially during emergencies.
(Please help him get his state governor to
answer his mail. Learn how you can help from your computer at the below link.)
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HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THIS WAS YOUR FATHER'S AND
MOTHER'S GRAVE?
DON'T OUR VETERANS
DESERVE BETTER THAN FLOODED GRAVES.
"In 1982, the public perception of a Vietnam
vet was Sylvester Stallone's film character RAMBO, a mentally disturbed and thoroughly fictionalized ex-soldier."
VETS WHO MADE A
DIFFERENCE
AGENT ORANGE IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
|
ALL VIETNAM VETERANS ARE ELIGIBLE
FOR AGENT ORANGE EXAMS.
PLEASE PASS THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO
ALL VIETNAM VETERANS, WHO YOU KNOW. | |
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The poem listed on the below website is the "Dear Vietnam Veteran" Letter.
International War Veterans' Poetry Archives
JACK CUNNINGHAM
United States Marine Corps
Phu Da, Vietnam
1970 - 1971
LETTER OF APOLOGY
Author unknown - sentiment shared.
For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On the one hand, right thinking
Americans will abhor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this
minor event into some modern day My Lai massacre.
I heard some Arabs are asking for an apology. I humbly offer mine here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was
in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.).
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Arabs.
I am sorry that Arabs have to live in squalor under savage dictatorships. I am sorry that their leaders
squander their wealth.
I am sorry that their governments breed hate for the US in their religious schools.
I am sorry that Yassir Arafat was kicked out of every Arab country and hijacked the Palestinian "cause."
I am sorry that no other Arab country will take in or offer more than a token amount of financial help to
those same Palestinians.
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while
the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA.
I am sorry that our own left wing elite and our media can't understand any of this.
I am sorry the United Nations scammed the poor people of Iraq out of the "food for oil" money so they could
get rich while the common folk suffered.
I am sorry that some Arab governments pay the families of homicide bombers upon their death.
I am sorry that those same bombers are seeking 72 virgins. I can't seem to find one here on Earth.
I am sorry that the homicide bombers think babies are a legitimate target.
I am sorry that our troops died to free more Arabs.
I am sorry they show so much restraint when their brothers in arms are killed. I am sorry that Muslim extremists
have killed more Arabs than any other group.
I am sorry that foreign trained terrorists are trying to seize control of Iraq and return it to a terrorist
state.
I am sorry we don't drop a few dozen "Daisy Cutters" on Fallujah. (Note: a "Daisy Cutter" is a 10,000
lb bomb, used to clear helicopter landing zones)
I am sorry every time terrorists hide they find a convenient "Holy Site".
I am sorry they didn't apologize for driving a jet into the World Trade Center that collapsed and severely
damaged Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - one of our Holy Sites.
I am sorry they didn't apologize for flight 93 and 175, the USS Cole, the embassy bombings, etc.
I am sorry Michael Moore is American; he could feed a medium sized village in Africa.
I am sorry the French are french?
America will get past this latest absurdity. We will punish those responsible because that is what we do.
We hang out our dirty laundry for all the world to see. We move on. That's one of the reasons we are hated so much.
We don't hide this stuff like all those Arab countries that are now demanding an apology.
Deep down inside, when most Americans saw this reported in the news, we were like - so what? We lost
hundreds and made fun of a few prisoners. Sure, it was wrong, sure, it dramatically hurts our cause, but until captured
we were trying to kill these same prisoners. Now we're supposed to wring our hands because a few were humiliated? Our
compassion is tempered with the vivid memories of our own people killed, mutilated and burnt amongst a joyous crowd of celebrating
Fallujans.
If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long wait. You have a better chance
of finding those 72 virgins.
http://www.catsprn.com/letter_of_apology.htm
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