Hey, I doubt there's anyone in the USA who is more grateful or respectful of the 1st Responders -- those people who rushed to the World Trade Center on 9/11 and in the days afterward than I am. They and their families have suffered and continue to suffer the most personal ill effects of that attack.
But let's look again at the proposed bill to fund the ongoing health care needs of the 1st Responders.New York Senator Gillibrand, who's sponsoring the bill, noted that there are about 100,000 surviving 1st Responders. They're a group that's already been identified -- there won't be any more added to the list.
So the proposed bill asks for $6.2 billion for their care -- or roughly that number.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that $600 million for each one?
I mean, isn't that just a bit excessive? Seems to me, with that kind of money, each one of them could buy their own country somewhere.
If any one of them stood on top of the Statue of Liberty and tossed $20 bills into the wind one bill at a time, it would be hard for any one of them to spend that much money over the course of a natural lifetime --which many of them -- due to their sense of honor and love of country -- will not enjoy.
So, while I totally agree with the spirit of that bill, I think the cost is more reflective of Washington's general inability to conceive of the value of money than it reflects the actual need.
That's all I got to say about it right now.
Save the Republic
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