How Much Time Has REALLY Passed?

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 happened almost twelve years ago. Thousands of people lost everything: their health, property or in some cases, their lives. The nation was forced to start again, pick up the pieces and move on.

For Americans on the East Coast, conservative estimates of economic losses were close to 2 billion dollars, according to the recent New York Times article, 9/11 Health Fund Pays Out Its First 15 Awards. The article details how federal plans of health care and financial compensation are finally being put into place and the first fifteen financial compensation awards for first responders were issued. This program for 'victims' is tax-free and ranges from $10,000 to $1.5 million per individual case. I think this compensation fund is a good idea, however I find it astonishing that it took so long to materialize, considering how prominent it has been in the national media and its role in the United States' foreign policy in the past decade. According to Sheila Birnbaum, the special master of the fund, one reason for the "glacial pace" of the progress was the gradual speed of which all of the paperwork has been filled out by the victims. She also cited the fact that in late 2010, Congress approved the $2.8 billion compensation fund, along with a $1.5 billion fund for health monitoring and treatment. Do you think she is placing blame on others rather the program itself? The program also fails to cover costs for serious illnesses such as cancer because of "a lack of evidence tying Sept. 11 to cancer". Is it a lack of evidence or just a lack of trying?

I think it is startling that the fund does not cover cancer, which is one of the most expensive ailments and probably one of the most likely things people would seek compensation for. In the same article, Ms. Birnbaum said, “The type of illness is not important. What is important is your economic loss.” Her use of the words, 'not important' seem to me like an apathetic approach to a potentially depressing issue. To what extent do you think the fund was set up as a program in name only? Should the Victim Compensation Fund evaluate at each case individually based on the severity of the ailment or solely the 'economic loss'? Please leave your comments below.