White House, N.Y. Face Off Over 9/11 Funds

[maddezmom]

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - New York has yet to spend $125 million for workers injured in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and their aftermath. Tired of waiting, the federal government wants the money back.

New York lawmakers are trying to hold on to the funds ahead of a House committee meeting next week to consider reclaiming the money as the Bush administration has proposed for the budget year that begins Oct. 1.

Twenty-one lawmakers from the state, including Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, want the White House to redirect the money toward health programs for ground zero workers affected with long-term lung problems that might not appear for years.

So far, the administration has resisted.

The federal government agreed to give more than $20 billion to help New York recover from the attacks. That money included $175 million for the state's workers compensation program. But as the claims were processed, the bulk of the money was not spent.

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050601/ap_on_re_us/sept_11_workers_comp_3

[Warpy]

1. some of the fire and rescue workers are going to need

long term care because their lungs were destroyed because THE EPA FUCKING LIED TO THEM.

I hope NY doesn't budge a millimeter on this one.

Of course, since they're ONLY PEOPLE, the GOP wants the money back so it can send it off to GM or some airline so the CEOs will get bigger bonuses.

[NJ Democrats]

2. Good Point

Go New York, and no doubt some of that money will affect NJ too, as we have firefighters who Port Authority workers who live here.

[Lisa]

5. yeah -- the damage from all those tiny airborne particles of asbestos

... may not show up for a decade or two. Wouldn't be good to run out of money and leave all those people in the lurch.

(and some of those particles were lofted up there by those vacuum trucks which didn't have appropriate filters on them, because Bush's government said everything was okay)

[TomClash]

3. They don't tell you NY did not receive about $10 billion

of that "20 billion"

[GainesT1958]

4. I look foward to the day Gov. Eliot Spitzer looks Dub in the eye...

And Dub has to turn away in shame!:mad:

B-)

[Moderator]

6. kick to combine

[JRob]

7. White House Stiffs Ground Zero Workers

White House, N.Y. Face Off Over 9/11 Funds

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jun 1, 5:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON - New York has yet to spend $125 million for workers injured in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and their aftermath. Tired of waiting, the federal government wants the money back.

New York lawmakers are trying to hold on to the funds ahead of a House committee meeting next week to consider reclaiming the money as the Bush administration has proposed for the budget year that begins Oct. 1.

Twenty-one lawmakers from the state, including Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, want the White House to redirect the money toward health programs for ground zero workers affected with long-term lung problems that might not appear for years.

So far, the administration has resisted.

The federal government agreed to give more than $20 billion to help New York recover from the attacks. That money included $175 million for the state's workers compensation program. But as the claims were processed, the bulk of the money was not spent.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050601/ap_on_re_us/sept_11_workers_comp_3

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Does this come as a surprise to anyone?

I am only surprised that it has taken this long for them to demand the money back.

[central scrutinizer]

9. money grubbers

http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/911_sixmonths/index7.shtml

let's look back to 2002:

11 March 2002
Shortly after the disaster, President George W. Bush pledged $20 billion in aid for New York City in general. Until last week, according to Ronnie Lowenstein, director of the Independent Budget Office, Washington officially had approved only $11.6 billion, some three-quarters of which would go for cleaning up, security, and antiterrorism measures, with the balance for rebuilding.

City officials worried that Bush might try to back out of providing the full $20 billion that he promised, with his pledge vulnerable to opposition in Congress, the financial demands of the war in Afghanistan and the slumping economy. Indeed, budget director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. fueled these fears when he said the $7 billion going to families of victims of the trade center attacks would count as part of that $20 billion. And he said that local politicians had "treated this as a little money-grubbing game."

The statement backfired. "When Mitch Daniels shot his mouth off and called us money- grubbers, he really forced the issue and forced the administration to really produce," Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a Democrat from Manhattan, told the Times, which added that the president's image and the Republican governor's chances for re-election became at stake. On March 8, President Bush invited top New York City officials to the White House and promised that he would provide the city with the full $20 billion he had promised, and $1.5 billion on top of that, and that this $21.5 billion was to be in addition to the amount the families of the victims were getting. Of the $10.5 billion he detailed last week, $5.5 billion of it, he said, would be in direct aid, more than half of which would be funneled through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for cleanup.

[Catchawave]

10. Recommended....

...the money should stay in NY.

[Zerex71]

11. Let me count the ways I'm not shocked.

Of course they are just using the workers, just like they used the whole event to further their PNAC fantasies. Who are you going to believe, them, or your own eyes?

[Cha]

12. Get this news out along side

bush's fucking bullshit bullhorn moment!

[Catchawave]

14. The bullhorn photo op was the first thing that

came to my mind too. What bull(horn)shit that was!

[JRob]

15. I'd love to see that... nt

[Cha]

16. Would not that be grrreat?

bush on the bullshitbullhorn with the news crawling that the chimphouse wants their damn money back..and "fuck New Yorkers".

[JRob]

17. I'm sure that they have nothing but contempt for New Yorkers...

The GOP Convention was a slap in the face, a symbolic "pissing on" by ButchCo because of the liberal legacy of the city...

[bballny]

13. His word

is always just that words. He is the greatest welcher of all time. Can you imagine how many times he said I love you to get sex and of course the most famous line . I promise I won't c_m in you m__th