Posted on 10/09/2001 3:22:53 PM PDT by pulaskibush
Talking Points: Update on Money Situation for Terror Victims
Tuesday, October 09, 2001 By Bill O'Reilly
Email this Article The Talking Points memo this evening: It's an update of the money situation vis a vis the families of the terror victims. There's no question that Americans are the most generous people on earth, and that has been demonstrated once again.
One billion dollars have been pledged thus far to help families effected by the terror attacks. But the money is slow in getting to these families, and government supervision has been lax, to say the least. Up to this point, the United Way has received $87 million for its September 11th Fund. Only $5.9 million has been allocated so far.
And get this, the allocated money doesn't go directly to the families, it goes to local organizations which can then give the money out as they see fit. So, there's another layer of bureaucracy for the families to deal with.
That TV telethon that was on all the networks, all the channels, it raised $150 million in pledges. And the money is being controlled by the United Way. Yet officials from that agency declined to appear on The Factor this evening to explain what's going on.
They did send us a statement, and we appreciate that, but we need to hear from the United Way. They should answer some questions, such as exactly how much money will the families be getting, and when? Hopefully, a spokesman from the United Way will show up on The Factor later this week.
The situation is somewhat troubling because, as Talking Points has said, there is no government agency watching the United Way or any of the other 140 charities. You may remember that in 1995, the president of the United Way, who ran it for 22 years, was convicted in federal court for misusing the charity's money. By the way, that man, William Aramony, was being paid more than $300,000 a year to run the United Way.
The point here is that there are far too many questions about the $1 billion pledged to help the victims' families. This situation needs to get under control, and fast. I'm calling my congressman, Peter King, and asking him to keep me apprised of what's going on with all the donations. You might want to do the same thing with your congress-person.
We'll have more on the story at the end of the broadcast, and that is the memo.
When I contacted the Dallas organization, I got an upper manager who told me the "local" group tries not to get involved with those kind of issues. I told him fine - come back to me when he gets his own Natl Organization in shape.
I never thought about what they did, just always see them around Christmas. I think any future donations will go towards the Salvation Army. I saw the UW NYC President tonight on the Factor, and he seemed very liberal, feel-goody, vague kinda of way, I mean in that way that Clinton would say a lot of things, but not actually say much, if that makes any sense.
Maybe I've been watching and listening to the wrong channels, but I haven't noticed any ads from the Red Cross itself. Instead, I've noticed many ads from stores and businesses promoting the Red Cross relief effort and encouraging people to come to their stores to make donations (and, most likely make some other purchases while they're there).
concerned about politics is hardly a disruptor. I totally agree with him/her. The Salvation Army is much more worthy than the Red Cross.
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