dojW000067.xml

dojW000067.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-11-06

Tuesday, November 06, 2001 10:53 AM
Victim Compensation

I am strongly opposed to any sort of taxpayer-funded victim compensation for the following reasons:

a.. A government give-away in return for a lawsuit waiver is just another BAILOUT for the airlines. I am furious enough about the previous ones without having to pay for yet another one. If the courts feel that the airlines are culpable in the terrorist attack and that lawsuits against them are viable, then the justice system should be allowed to work and the airlines should suffer through it like the rest of us. That's why we have a court system. Buying off potential lawsuit plaintffs is highly unethical. Big Business is always screaming about "letting the market forces work without government intervention". Well, LET'S DO JUST THAT.
b.. The airlines were warned long and hard about HUGE security failures which they refused to address because it would cut into their profits. They took the risk and now its time for them to pay for their greed. They deserve to be sued. The US won't close down even if ALL the airlines shut down. People will find other (better) ways to get where they need to go and they will cut out a lot of what is frivolous business travel to begin with.
c.. Vast sums of money have been raised specifically in the names of victims of this tragedy by celebrities, individuals, churches, businesses, school groups and every other group I can think of. It sounds like millions and millions have been raised, however no audit whatsoever has been performed on the collecton and distribution of the funds. These massive funds already raised should provide more than adequate compensation if they are being distributed properly. The DOJ should head up the project to account for and see that these funds have been properly distributed instead of looking to grab more tax dollars.
d.. The large majority of the victims who perished in the World Trade Center were wealthy lawyers, bond traders, stock brokers and other highly-compensated persons who not only already had considerable wealth in the bank to provide for their families, but SHOULD have had the foresight to provide considerable life insurance for them as well. God knows, I'm paying out the nose for insurance for my survivors and on a lot less salary than the WTC victims made. If they failed to provide insurance, I shouldn't be asked to support their survivors with my tax dollars.
e.. To hand large sums of money over to survivors of a terrorist attack is discriminatory to victims of other unsavory demise. We don't compensate flood or hurricane victims that way. Nor do we go overboard in compensating the widows and children of military personnel killed in battle. Millions of people are "victims" of terrible events over which they have no control which either kill them, ruin their lives or ruin the lives of their families and loved ones. We don't compensate them with tax dollars and neither should we compensate survivors of terrorist attacks with tax dollars.

Individual Comment
Ridgeland, MS

2001-11-06