Pearls wife was denied the funds. First off it is clear that the funds were for the 9/11 families. Why in the hell is she trying to cash in? Which leads to the same concerns as to why do we have this fund? I know it is a sensative issue but I still have questions and no one has fully explained where the funds are coming from. From what Lawboy said it seems it comes from private funding. But yet it appears to be government funded.
If private funding then there is no question or concern. However if taxpayer funded then what precedent does this establish for future attacks or even attack by another country. While noble in thought it appears to set a bad precedent.
I am not attempting to stir the pot but I truthfully have questions about this an we shopuld be able to discuss this without acting like idiots and attack each other.
First off SOMEONE clarify if this is a private funded thing or tax payer paid.
If taxpayer paid then I would like to raise these questions. Yes we feel sympathy for what happened but where is the justification in setting up this fund? Bad things happen and people die and children lose their parents every day. We don't fund every victim of a crime or accident int he United States? If we are attacked again and say a city gets wiped out or a large portion of the population gets wiped out, is there entitlement based on the amount of income generatated in the victims home? It isn't the fact we are helping people out that raises concern in my mind, it is this idea that we have to make families whole based on the income of the victim made? I don't mean to sound cold but don't know how else to say it but we should be helpign them survive or obtain basic needs to move on such as providing shelter and food. Not millions based on the income of the victim. What is wrong with providing the assistance to stay alive and it is up to the surviving parent to make a new path. Again I do not mean to sound cold but what about families that lose their homes ect because the primary person who brought the income in died? This happens every day across America and is part of life. The surviving parent finds means to survive. They don't get a acertain dollar amount from the government.
I guess it comes down to the manner which people are victims should have no bearing on government funding. I just have a problem with certain victims getting special treatment over vast amount of victims across the Untied States that suffer the same loss. Tell a victim that lost everything because their parent was killed in an accident ect that they have less value than a 9/11 victim and they are entitled to nothing, yet the 9/11 victims are entitled to much more than basic assistance or even millions? I wonder what they would say? There is something just not balancing out in my mind on this.
Again I urge everybody to discuss this with respect.
there are two funds. one is private and one is public. i didnt read the article but i suspect the one referenced above was the publicly funded one. over a billion dollars was raised for the private one.
as to why the publicly funded one was created...ask your republican brethren...it was their doing. my understanding is it was done to save the airline industry and prevent lawsuits. niiiiice. so the burden is shifted from those who might be responsible (the airlines) to all of us the taxpayers. another example of corporate welfare.
for clarification, i do not think the airlines were responsible. i do not think any suit brought based on 9-11 would win. i cant imagine the level of juror bias. every prominent plaintiff's lawyer i know agreed, at the request of ATLA, not to bring any suits against the airlines wrt 9-11. instead, we volunteered to assist the victims with their applications to the funds...pro bono.
if they sign the release, they can still sue. that right cannot be signed away
thats the funniest thing ive ever heard.
why cant it be signed away? please enlighten me on how i can go and sue all the bad guys that i already settled with...that way i can double the value of each case!!!
if they sign the release, they can still sue. that right cannot be signed away
thats the funniest thing ive ever heard.
why cant it be signed away? please enlighten me on how i can go and sue all the bad guys that i already settled with...that way i can double the value of each case!!!
Actually they CAN bring an action LB. They'd be absolute morons since they'd loose the case, but technically, RB is correct. [img]/images/graemlins/supergrin.gif[/img]
No they can't. The applications I have assisted in filing for my clients waived their right to bring a suit. It would be crazy for the gov't to set up a fund like this, allow people to draw from the fund and still allow them to sue.
i will pull the application and quote the release language for you.
When it enacted legislation creating the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund, Congress attempted to provide a simple, non-litigation pathway to closure for the families who lost loved ones -- as well as for the handful of survivors injured in the attack. The Fund is available only to parties who suffered personal injury (as opposed, for example, to firms that lost property or suffered business interruption).
The Fund offers "no fault" compensation. Under its system, a family or survivor who opted to apply to the Fund must give up their right to sue before Judge Hellerstein. In exchange, they will receive a sum from the U.S. Treasury that has been calculated according to certain principles carefully developed by Special Master Feinberg and his team.
This sum is the "carrot" that makes the Fund option attractive -- but Congress also paired it with a "stick." If families don't opt for the Fund, and opt instead to sue before Judge Hellerstein, then they cannot receive full damages. Instead, the liability for the defendants is capped. For example, the airlines cannot be liable in excess of the insurance they carried on each plane that was hijacked on September 11.
Ichiro...sorry. I was pulling your chain a bit. My only point was that anyone can BRING a suit (which is good for you as an attorney). Anyone can pay an attorney to draft and serve the appropriate documents to "bring" a lawsuit. I fully agree that such an action would effectively be meaningless...nonetheless, my only point was to suggest that RB was "technically" correct. It was just a playful post. [img]/images/graemlins/supergrin.gif[/img] Didn't mean for you to reach into your bag of law goodies to pull out the written word.
and for those of you who dont believe these victims should receive any money, i can not hold someone in higher contempt. how dare you act like you know their pain. how dare you sit in judgment on them and their losses. you are truly, ignorant, bitter souls and i choose to have nothing to do with you.
goddamit i cant stand the ignorance of some on this board.
come on Mike....I want to discuss this not rehash old feelings. There is a difference. There are a lot of people who feel the same as I do and question why some of these families are getting paid so much. Where is the logic in the special treatment is my question. MRob just came back from the nearest truck stop and made a good point. [img]/images/graemlins/supergrin.gif[/img] My feelings have nothing to do with lack of sympathy. I feel very sorry for the families as I would feel sorry for any victim. What is the difference between 9/11 victims and other victims, so much of a difference that families are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars? Do we value families that had more value prior to the loss?
I am serious what seperates a victim who gets nothing vs the ones who do? Why do we as a country value the 9/11 victims over say the children in Waco, OKC Bombing, an auto accident that takes the life of the parents, victims of riots who die in a riot and so on?
Yes it makes us feel discomfort to ask these questions due to the context and risk being branded someone who is uncaring but it is a question that needs to be addressed not just here but out there.
I think our government went too far and if lawsuits are brought on then so be it. We should not act like a welfare cash cow out of fear of lawsuits. It had good intentions but was wrong in my eyes. Pay the victims of 9/11 and kick the nuts of any other victims is what it seems to me.
The "old feelings" and arguements are still the same - $1.8 million average payout of federal taxpayers money is insane. That amount does not include the public funds that were made available.
