dojN001957.xml

dojN001957.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-01-17

Thursday, January 17, 2002 8:46 PM
EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS...

With the deadline looming the families who lost loved ones
on 9-11 to apply for federal funds, I am deeply concerned
about a journalistic trend to categorize the families of
those who perished during the terrorist attack as "greedy".

As a survivor of a flood disaster who lost a loved one and
received absolutely no help of any kind, financial or
otherwise, from anyone, I could feel "resentful" or bitter
about the federal assistance being offered to those who lost

loved ones, but I do not, because I am viewing their plight
from a LONG-TERM perspective. No one is addressing the fact

that when a primary wage earner dies, the financial impact
can last a lifetime. Rarely is a surviving partner capable
of matching the earning lost AND raising the children (if
any) AND bearing the emotional loss AND re-building her or
his life. What may sound like a "lot of money" NOW will not

necessarily be a lot of money stretched out over the long
term.

ALL of the families should be given an EQUAL AMOUNT of
federal funds. This is not the IRS. This is not charity.
This is the government's determined attempt to prevent the
airlines from being sued into bankruptcy and still offer
some compensation to the families who lost loved ones.
Please remember that TWA as a business did NOT survive the
crash of Flight 800. Pan Am as a business did NOT survive
the crash of Flight 103. Even ValuJet did not survive the
crash in the Florida Everglades.

Thank you,

Individual Comment
Los Angeles, CA

2002-01-17