Posted on 09/06/2006 7:18:13 AM PDT by beaversmom
Oh brother!
Where's the Barf Alert?
Compare their $7 million to what the children, wives and other family members of the Iraq/Afghanistan war dead get. Compare it to what the families of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Cole and everyday murder and rape victims get. Constant complaining by some (not all, especially not the fire/police/rescue families) of these relatives and I never hear a word of thanks to the taxpayers who gave them the money.
You were not his wife.
BUMP!
What nonsense! This was the deal they made, cash on the barrel head NOW, or take your chances with lenghty and uncertain litigation. They ALL must know they were darn lucky to even be given this choice, unique to my knowledge.
And as for the system "favor[ing] the rich", all settlements that compensate for life earnings favor "the rich".
This author reveals little but her own ignorance and prejudices.
Years ago, my husband died, and I applied for life insurance.
I am not thankful that he didn't have it, and I was very glad for the money. But I can say one of the worst moments of my life was when I got that check in the mail.
It was like blood money. I can't really explain it. I wanted to rip it up and say I's rather have him back. Of course I didn't.
No good deed goes unpunished. Unanticipated wealth under any circumstance makes miserable people even more miserable.
It seemed acceptable at the time, but it was a mistake.
It made more sense to compensate the families of the firemen and policemen who died, since they voluntarily risked their lives to save others and they all died valiantly.
However, a significant number of fire widows have had affairs with and broken the homes of their late husband's colleagues in a truly disgraceful display.
And that was, in part, a result of Fire Department policy.
The FDNY had a program where firemen were supposed to act as surrogate dads for the children of the fallen - going to their homes and playing ball with them, reading stories, doing cookouts, taking them on outings and helping the moms with groceries, home repairs, etc.
Sending a family man over to the home of a lonely woman once a week to act like a husband and a dad was not, psychologically, the best thing to do.
In the absence of sudden riches having been heaped on them, other widows have no alternative but to pick up the pieces, take care of their children, and MOVE ON.
Am I unsympathetic? No, not at all. Anyone who has ever been a widow, or been closely associated with one, recognizes many of the symptoms of the first year of adjustment --- but, this time, the 9/11 widows have never gotten beyond that transition period -- and, perhaps, never will.
Is anyone out there living in a non-marital "relationship" paying attention? You have no marital rights when you are not married. Why is that so hard to understand? That particular woman made her own non-marital bed and now must lay in it.
Barf alert, indeed! Make that a double --- or, maybe even a triple!
Please forgive my lack of compassion. Where's the millions in compensation for the families of the victims of Khobar Towers and the USS Cole?
Damn, I'm sorry they lost their loved ones but when does it end?
His wife received compensation from the fund, I have no idea how much, sold their house in NJ and moved to Florida to be closer to his family. She bought a house and is raising his children in as normal an environment as possible.
His family will tell you that they can't believe how much money his widow received, but no one begrudges her the money and she has gone out of her way to keep his family close to her children. It's all very sad, but nobody went off the deep end.
You are both so right on this.
The small amount we give the survivors of our deceased military personnel is simply pathetic when compared to what these surviving spouses received. I'm sorry they're having a rough time, but at least they are suffering in wealth. The spouses of our military often grieve in poverty.
Whatever makes one think that the rest of us owes them anything, anyway? Things happen. The airlines didn't drive those planes into the buildings, nor did the pilots, so these families should be taking their claims to Saudi Arabia...the home of the perpetrators.
Why does our government have to bail everything out? This is socialism, folks. The government was not responsible for 9/11, for Katrina, for any of the bailouts that are regularly laid at their feet. We are expecting the government to provide a certain standard of living to all who suffer loss. Then why not for bankruptcies, defaults, repossessed homes, etc.?
Yeah, why does this author continually refer to this woman as the spouse?
You want spousal rights, get married.
And they repaid us by... voting for terrorist sympathizer, John Kerry. As far as I'm concerned, they're on their own next time.
As far as I am concerned, we do not give military widows [spouses] anything. The compensation they receive is, and should be considered, justified as part of the contractual obligation we as a nation incur in relationship to the service rendered our country by their husbands [spouses]. I agree that it is pathetically small -- but I consider it to be more than earned and not a gift.
SoS
"Those who took the 'blood money' of up to $7 million each were banned from suing the government or airlines for further compensation, their rights stripped away."
Excuse me? How can accepting $7 million in exchange for an agreement not to sue constitute having one's "rights stripped away"? The hysteria mongers are at it again.
The overpayments assocaited with this profligate program are evident in the fact that the families were given the choice of accepting the millions in taxpayer dollars or declining them adn going forward with their "ironclad" lawsuits against the airlines, etc. As I recall, not a single family opted out of the payments which I believe are tax-free. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also seem to remember Hillary pushing through a bill barring the IRS from collecting taxes ont he income earned by their decedents in 2001. Again, my comments about a lack of appreciation don't cover the fire/police/rescue families or those families of the trapped WTC dead, seemingly in the minority, who seem to have some appreciation for what they've gotten as generous gifts from the US taxpayers.
We don't know how they all voted. We know how five voted.
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