P000134
Friday, January 25, 2002 4:09 PM
Interim Final Rule
Mr. Feinberg seems to be fixated on the term "according to economic need".
This is not what the law is for. It is not called the September 11 Victim
Welfare Fund, but the September 11 COMPENSATION Fund. The purpose of
Congress, according to the very Congressmen than passed the bill, was to
provide a balance:
On one hand to protect the airlines. It does this by giving these
companies, many of them on the financial ropes before September 11, $15
Billion in taxpayer money. The theory being that $15 Billion now is less
costly to the taxpayer than the effect of the collapse of the industry would
be to the economy as a whole.
This goes along with total and complete protection for the 2 airlines
involved from any actual liability regarding their utter failure to follow
the law. The protection was then extended to the port authorities that had
to oversee the airlines ground-side security procedures, and the management
of the World Trade Center who had the responsibility to protect the people
in the building and instead told them to go back to their desks in what was
an obviously unstable situation.
On the other the victims should not be prevented from getting the
compensation that they would be entitled to if they did exercise their
rights to file suit against the airlines and others. For this reason the
fund was set up. That is all this is, a way for people to be compensated
for their loss, not to just take care of some because of some "need". This
was the governments promise "we will provide fair and full compensation if
you agree not to sue and possibly destroy the airlines." And while the law
itself was passed without anyone ever talking to the very people it was
designed to compensate and with all its very obvious flaws, the interim
rules completely wipe out any reason for the families to bother taking the
offer.
Why should we not sue the airlines, attack this obviously unconstitutional
ex post facto law, and in the process possibly take down 2 airlines if the
alternative is to take a leap of faith, sign away our rights on the vague
promise that someday it is possible that someone may give you some amount of
money for your loss. It would take years to get this through the courts?
So what, the possibity of a payout in the future, even at pennies on the
dollar in after a bankruptcy court liquidates the assets of American and
United, is better than knowing right now that you will not receive dollar
one if you sign away your rights.
Trust is a very big issue here, and quite frankly the families just don't
trust you, Mr. Feinberg. You lied to the families when you said
there would be no caps and there are. You continue to tell the same lie of
how we will "receive" $1.65 million when you know full well that no one will
actually see a check for anything like this amount. You said that the
charts were based on statistics created in 1979 to track federal pension
funds and then deny it when people are outraged that you did not use more
accurate, complete and current formula and statistics. You told families in
Washington that the amount for non-economic damages, a number that would
actually help the neediest people the most, was forced on you by the OMB and
the Republican administration, and then deny it on TV. You have a pattern
of refusing every opportunity to meet with any of the families or family
group representatives in a public forum. What do you have to hide, Mr.
Feinberg?
Do what you were hired to do, fulfill the promise made by Congress and
follow the intent and letter of the law by actually setting a non-economic
damages number that will fit the situation of the victims and their
families, clarify the collateral source rules, narrowing their scope as much
as possible, recognize that your definition of family and my definition of
family may not fit all of the types of famlilies that exist in our nation,
and place the waiver of the claimant to exercize thier rights near the end
of the process after they have some idea of what the claimant might actually
receive net not gross and in the process shore up the already undermined
credibily of this fund. If you cannot do that, then please by all means it
is time to step down.
Individual Comment
Brooklyn NY