9/11 PAYOUTS COULD REACH $6 BILLION...developing

Drudge Report ^ | September 1, 2002

[WellsFargo94]

This is developing, but I thought it was an outrageous amount of money. Any comments??

[WellsFargo94]

I am very sorry for the families that lost loved ones on September 11, however, don't misunderstand me, I just don't agree with the government handout that is occuring. The Red Cross provides excellent service meeting emergency needs; shelter, clothing, food, counseling, money, etc. Okay, they had to have a major jump start last fall, but regardless they did the right thing in the end. But my point is, enough with the money already. What really irritated me after 9-11 were the reports of these high-roller stock brokers who left families and huge mortgages behind without life insurance, or without addequate coverage. That was just fiscal irresponsibility and not the responsibility of the taxpayers.

[Asclepius]

That was just fiscal irresponsibility and not the responsibility of the taxpayers.

If all of the victims' famalies became millionaires I would be happy about it.

Just make sure OBL or his successors know about it.

[steve50]

You got to love the way it's structured. If the exec had savings/life insurance, ect. to protect his family, they get very little. If the exec was living large, way in debt, totally irresponsible, they hit the government(taxpayer funded) lottery.

Bush sticking the taxpayer with this bailout of the airline industry was one of the final nails for me, time to support different politicians.

[NMC EXP]

That was just fiscal irresponsibility and not the responsibility of the taxpayers.

WellsFargo -- I agree with you completely. We are in good company:

“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article in the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.... With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.“
-- James Madison, 1791

James Madison authored the Constitution, he knew what it meant.

If all of the victims' famalies became millionaires I would be happy about it.

Asclepius -- You are happy about enriching some at the expense of others. That makes you a socialist and a willing acomplice in the theft of my taxdollars for an un-Constitutional cause.

If it makes you so happy, clean out your own bank account, sell everything you own and donate the proceeds to the cause of your choice. Thats called charity.

What you support here is theft.

Regards

J.R.

[Lokibob]

Drudge has just a headline, so it is still fuzzy what he is saying.

If it is $6bn of tax money, that is outrageous, but a total cost of $6bn (tax money, donations, insurance, cost of cleanup, economic incentatives, rebuilding cost, survivor benefits, college costs for survivor children, loss of business days after 9/11, etc.) would not be out of line.

[SamAdams76]

You got to love the way it's structured. If the exec had savings/life insurance, ect. to protect his family, they get very little. If the exec was living large, way in debt, totally irresponsible, they hit the government(taxpayer funded) lottery.

Unfortunately that kind of justice is par for the course. For example, hard-working families who scrimp and save to send their kids to college get turned down for financial assistance because they have assets and are deemed "not needy." That's all well and good. But then you have families who have been financially irresponsible, living well beyond their means, getting the flashy cars and clothes and running up credit cards until they are up to their ears in debt. Those people are the ones getting the grants and the financial assistance to get their kids into good colleges while many times, the responsible hard-working families have to settle for community colleges for their kids.

Getting back to the families of the WTC victims, we should just seize some Middle Eastern oil fields and pump oil until everything is paid for. The rebuilding of the WTC, the replacement of the wrecked airliners, the cost of sending troops over their to kick their ass and of course, damages for the victim's families. If we have to pump oil until the 22nd Century, so be it.

[Asclepius]

That makes you a socialist and a willing acomplice in the theft of my taxdollars for an un-Constitutional cause.

J'accuse away, Zola. But I wonder how you'll feel when you realize that the world is a little richer, a little more complex than you currently think it is.

[NMC EXP]

But I wonder how you'll feel when you realize that the world is a little richer, a little more complex than you currently think it is.

Enlighten me and I'll discover if I feel differently.

Regards

J.R.

[MarineDad]

Right on wavelength with ya! Those survivors DO need to be compensated, however. It's just that it shouldn't be done out of the pockets of fellow Americans. Those miserable sandgoblins who made these murders possible should have it taken out of their hides!! (then shoot 'em).

[Dante3]

I feel the taxpayers should not have to pay for it. Were there similar sums paid to the Oklahoma victims? How about the poor families of the Alabama mine disaster shortly after 9/11?

Huge amount of money was raised privately. This is fine with me. However, for taxpayers to pay out for wealthy New Yorkers (you bet if they were poor from Alabama no such would be offered) is outrageous.

[steve50]

If we seize the fields they oil will be filtered thru the WTO outfits. The American taxpayer will assume the cost of protecting their interests and see very little economic advantage from it.

[07055]

I feel the taxpayers should not have to pay for it. Were there similar sums paid to the Oklahoma victims? How about the poor families of the Alabama mine disaster shortly after 9/11?

I agree that paying the victims was a very bad idea.

For one thing, it has caused all of those other groups to put their hand out seeking cash from the government. As well as the "slavery reparations" pimps.

Besides, since when do victims of a war get a multi-million dollar payout? Heck, we don't even compensate the soldiers who die with more than a nominal death benefit.

[Lokibob]

Ok, the full Drudge report is out, and as usual, he is playing with figures.

The link is to a Time article featuring 12 people affected by 9/11. One of these people is Feinburg, the man in charge of distributing all the funds to the survivors.

Reading the article, Feinburg says it could be $4-6bn, not the $6bn Drudge states in his headline.

At the end of the article, one of the settlements has been done for $1.04 million. Assuming that is the middle settlement, and multiplying it by the 3200 possible settlements, it comes to $3.3bn.

[ConservativeNewsNetwork]

J'accuse away, Zola. But I wonder how you'll feel when you realize that the world is a little richer, a little more complex than you currently think it is.

Anyone can spend someone else's money. If you're so concerned, then start a relief fund and donate money yourself.

[Lokibob]

"Besides, since when do victims of a war get a multi-million dollar payout? Heck, we don't even compensate the soldiers who die with more than a nominal death benefit."

 

I agree with you, what a G.I. gets as a death benefit is shocking small.

 

Our military do not get a death benefit.  They pay for the government life insurance.

A GI gets $18/mo. deducted from their pay for life insurance.  Here is a description of SGLI:

 

Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (SGLI)

v     Automatically insured for $200,000, but may reduce or decline coverage as desired.

v     Monthly premiums are the same for all personnel, $.90 per $10,000 coverage.

 

I did a check of on-line insurance companies, and a healthy 20 year old can get the same insurance for the same price.  So when you hear that it is "GOVERNMENT LIFE INSURANCE", it is nothing of the kind.  The only way the government is involved is by requiring the G.I. to have it.

 

The only death benefit a G.I.'s survivor gets that is unique it the ability to stay in Government housing for 6 months free.  A guess on that is approximately $3,000.

Here is a list of Military death benefits Vs Federal employees death benefits.  http://www.cpms.osd.mil/icuc/attacks/Death%20Benefits%20Chart.htm

Sorry, I didn't intend to hijack the thread, but military death benefits are a sore spot with me, and every time it comes up, I intend to set the story straight. 

[caltrop]

Military Death benefits should be the standard on which any other compensation is measured. I don't, by the way, see the need for government compensation for WTC victims unless they're military personnel in any event.

[07055]

Do the military personnel who died in the Pentagon (and maybe WTC) qualify for these huge payouts? Or are they limited to the usual military death benefits?

If yes, why should they get big bucks while the grunts killed in Afghanistan get so little?

If not, why are they being treated differently from other civilian victims just because they were serving their country in the military?

[buffyt]

And the OKC bomb victims get what?????

[07055]

I am surprised that military personnel were not eligible for the Federal Thrift Savings Plan 401k until recently. Are they eligible now?

[Lokibob]

Yes, starting 2002, they could sign up. Of course, the G.I. must make a 6 year committment to reenlist before being eligable (they get you coming and going).

Seems it is limited tho. 7% of pay could go to the 401(k) with a $ for $ match for the first 3% and $.50 match for the rest.

While researching this, I found out that G.I. reservists can suspend repayment of 401(k) loans given to them in their civilian employment when on active duty without IRS penality. Isn't that great!!!! sarcasm off.