dojN002243.xml

dojN002243.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-01-22

Tuesday, January 22, 2002 11:33 AM
Beware of entitlement programs

My dear America:

Terrorism is designed not only to bring heartache but
also to riddle a society with unanswerable questions.
Certainly one such question is how to compensate for
the loss of life. Of course, there is no way to
compensate for the loss of a loved one, which is why
naming a fund from which monies will be distributed to
survivors of a terrorist attack a "compensation" fund
is a terrible mistake. But is not the most grave
mistake the United States is poised to make in the
face of these atrocities.

By paying entitlement sums to victims of a terrorist
attack, the government is accepting at least partial
responsibility for the attacks and setting an
extremely unwise precedent. What happens when terror
strikes again or when a natural disaster, like an
earthquake, hits part of the country? At what point
will the government be able to get away without
spending billions upon billions of dollars to
"compensate" for the loss of life?

Of course, our government has a responsibility to
protect its citizens from acts of terrorism. No one
would argue otherwise. But to create an entitlement
program which pays out every time we are caught off
guard by those with previously unimaginable evil in
their hearts is to threaten the very financial
security necessary to prevent future attacks. How many
attacks will it take to spend ourselves into
recession? Then where will the victims' loved ones -
or those of the next attack - be?

Sincerely,
Individual Comment
Patriot

2002-01-22