P000362
Saturday, February 02, 2002 11:27 PM
Our Heroes Deserve More Than A Broken Promise
Our Heroes Deserve More Than A Broken Promise
If we are bringing justice to the terrorist of Afghanistan, why can't we
bring justice to our heroes, the victims and their families of the
September 11th tragedy? Why didn't our heroes receive adequate workers'
compensation benefits in the first place?
It is both unjust and demeaning for our heroes to again be victimized by an
inadequate workers' compensation program that requires their families to
have to rely upon the goodness of the American people's "cookie sales" and
a haphazard charitable distribution program. Adding insult to injury are
the flawed regulations that fill in the details to the Federal government's
unbalanced program to insulate both the aviation and insurance industry
from liability.
The recent rally at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC supported the WTC United
Family Group www.wtcunitedfamilygroup.org revealed the staggering amount
of misinformation being disseminated concerning benefits available to our
heroes of September 11th. , lost his brother
in the terrorist attack of September 11th
Speaker after speaker highlighted the failure of the system to adequately
compensate the victims and their families. NY Attorney General Elliot
Spitzer declared the Federal compensation program to be "wrong and unfair."
"It is unfair to give up the right to sue without a hearing." He denounced
the regulations that establish barriers to recovery based upon timely
medical treatment and limitations allowing deduction of charitable benefits
under the "collateral source". NY Governor Pataki, who received 7 standing
ovations, as he denounced the Federal program as "terrible" and declared
that "the regulations make no sense" and that they "do not do justice."
As the world focuses upon the ruins of the collapsed buildings in NY, it
also focuses upon the failure of the workers' compensation system to meet
the needs of the victims. The massive spotlights on ground zero not only
reveal the wreckage of September 11th but also the broken promise of
adequate compensation to the heroes and their families. If trial lawyers
really care, they would support a program to repair the broken promise.
Individual Comment
Wayne NJ