I. Saw a ‘First Responder’ on TV yesterday (sorry, I cannot remember which program) who said his father had to be persuaded to file a claim as the father wasn’t a First Responder.......he was just near the Towers when the terrorist attack happened and has suffered a few different types of cancer. So, anyone even near the Towers has been compensated. And how do they know the cancers appearing in people ‘near’ the Towers are related to the Towers coming down? Many, many people (probably 99.9%) in this country have several different types of cancer occurring in their bodies, but live outside Manhattan. This fund has turned into a slush fund for Manhattanites. In the end, Stewart was just grandstanding for Socialized Medicine. Typical Lib, tugging at our heartstrings for more and more money.
Certainly there should be assistance but there seem to be some big questions left unanswered.
Firstly, as pointed out by many already the first responders have excellent medical insurance. Probably better than 99% of the general population.
Is there truly a higher percentage of cancer in that group? There very well might be but the Hinkley, CA. case as well as the silicon breast implant situation showed that sometimes people get cancer not necessarily a result of anything specific.
It's a terrible disease and those with it have my most heartfelt prayers. But some people just get cancer.
Someone else mentioned charity and I think that would be an excellent option. Here in Texas there are a number of regional "100 Club" charities that take no money for management but buy a life insurance policy for first responders. In addition they give cash to the family of the fallen to take care of immediate expenses. Looking at their most recent annual report there is no shortage of contributors.
Is New York so poor they can't establish something like that or are they so commie they don't see any place for private solutions?
I’m not for socialized medicine. I’m for full payment of medical care for these first responders and our military as part of their service to us.