House Progressives Ask to Meet With Obama Before Jobs Speech, Will He Listen to Them?
September 7, 2011 No Comment(Above video via email: In this MSNBC news clip from earlier today, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, calls on President Obama to take a bold economic recovery plan directly to the American people in his upcoming speech.) So the Democratic officials on the ground must be hearing a lot about the unemployment crisis, because it sounds like they’re going to try to communicate a sense of urgency to the president before he makes his Thursday speech: The chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and of the three caucuses of black, Hispanic and Asian members of the House would like a word with President Obama before his Thursday jobs address. In a Tuesday letter provided by a source, the leaders, who speak for a majority of House Dems, sought to make sure that Obama keeps his eye on the jobs crisis, which has disproportionately hit minority groups. “With unemployment at 9.1% nationally– approaching 12% in the Hispanic community, 16.7% in the African American community and with Asian American and Pacific Islanders remaining unemployed for longer periods than any other group– we are in a national crisis. We have learned throughout American history that big, bold action is required to put people back to work and promote economic growth,” the chairs write . “The chairs of the CBC, CAPAC, CPC, and CHC look forward to an opportunity to talk with you about proposals we would like you to consider before you address the nation this week.” These guys have to be worried about getting reelected when the administration isn’t pursuing aggressive policies to help the unemployed. Personally, I don’t think Obama will pay much attention to them. If he decides not to even meet with them, it’s probably because the proposals are too weak to defend. I’m hearing from Hill sources that he’s about to propose a package that won’t do much: $300 billion in tax cuts and federal spending with over half of that made up of continuing the payroll tax “holiday” that’s weakening Social Security, extending federal unemployment benefits, less than $50 billion for infrastructure, tax credits for hiring the unemployed, and extending the current provision that allows businesses to fully write off new equipment in the first year. In other words, just enough spending to maintain the current economic situation without actually making it better. UPDATE : John Amato: More possible bad news from Ezra Klein: Getting less attention in the media is the follow-up speech the White House is planning, which will lay out a specific deficit-reduction agenda that not only meets the $1.5 trillion goal of the “supercommittee,” but exceeds it and pays for the new jobs spending. These proposals will look quite similar to the grand bargain the White House offered Speaker John Boehner, and liberal groups are grimly preparing for the administration to call for raising the Medicare eligibility age. If he does offer up raising eligibility ages then he’s going to have an even more serious problem with the entire Democratic Party and not just the ones that have been unhappy for a long time. Count me included in the latter category. Dems have already won special elections based on Paul Ryan’s Medicare destruction bill that the House Republicans passed so this strategy makes no sense at all, especially since their debt ceiling negotiations only made independents angrier than before. What’s the definition of insanity again?
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Wonders Who’ll Get Kicked in the Testicles During Wednesday’s GOP Debate
September 7, 2011 No Comment
After months of inactivity in his Twitter account , MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Wednesday tweeted what some might consider a rather risqu
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Click here to view this media You have to wonder what Karl Rove is up to with these offhand remarks so damaging to Republican candidates. Without a doubt there’s no love lost between the groups Perry represents and those that Rove represents , but there’s more at work here than that. Rove is not simply a political commentator, but a player himself in the Republican sweepstakes. See what you make of this from this morning: GEORGE STEPHANPOLOUS: And a lot of questions about how how Rick Perry will handle this test. So much talk about his books and what he’s written in his books, “Fed Up!” Questioning the 16th Amendment, which imposed the income tax. The 17th Amendment, direct election of Senators. And I think he’s gotten the most attention for what he said about Social Security, calling it a Ponzi scheme. Compares it to a “bad disease” that’s been “imposed on us for 70 years.” You know how much trouble that can be for a Republican candidate in a general election. So how does he handle it and must he disavow some of these statements in the book. KARL ROVE: What they’ve done thus far is, I think, inadequate. Which is to basically say, “look, we didn’t write the book with the presidential campaign in mind.” Well, okay, fine. But they are going to have to find a way to deal with these things. Because, as you say, they are toxic in a general election environment and they are also toxic in a Republican primary. If you say Social Security is a failure and ought to be replaced by a state-level program, then people are going to say: “What do you mean by that?” And make a judgment based on your answer to it. Each candidate has strengths. Each candidate also has challenges. This, for Governor Perry is his challenge. Now he’s got formidable strengths. But this is his biggest challenge. Note that George Stephanopoulos didn’t use the word ‘toxic’, he used the phrase “trouble…for a Republican candidate in a general election.” Karl Rove offered the much stronger, more loaded term ‘toxic’. And without a doubt this was intentional, too. Rove seems to be doing his part to keep the whisper campaign going that Rick Perry is simply unelectable running for President. And if this were a rational electorate he’d probably be right. But Rove knows full well that all Rick Perry has to do is pass through the completely insane Republican primary system to become legitimatized. That is, taken seriously by the mainstream media, no matter how crazy and destructive his ideas are. UPDATE: John Amato : Karl Rove is part of the right-wing Village and they all want Mitt Romney to be the candidate running against Obama because they believe he has the best chance to win so they have been attacking all the tea party candidates during the primary season. That’s my humble opinion, of course.
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Carol Bartz sacked as online firm struggles to match the might of Silicon Valley giants Google and Apple It was once the world’s leading search engine, its founders held talks about a merger with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation – and it even managed to fend off a $44bn takeover bid by Microsoft. But Yahoo has put itself up for sale, after firing its chief executive of 18 months Carol Bartz by phone. A fierce manager with a proclivity for swearing, Bartz was brought in to revive Yahoo’s fortunes after the company rejected the Microsoft bid, but she was unable to match the pace of innovation of the new Silicon Valley giants – Google, Facebook and a resurgent Apple. Her dismissal prompted what Yahoo said was a “comprehensive strategic review” to “position the company for future growth”. An insider speaking to the Wall Street Journal put it more bluntly, however, saying the internet business is “open to selling itself to the right bidder” – signalling the end to a 17 year history that parallels the emergence of the internet. In an email sent from her iPad Bartz told staff that she had been “fired over the phone” by the company’s chairman Roy Bostock . Her short reign leaves Silicon Valley without a prominent female CEO – although Forbes had already concluded that Cheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, was already the most powerful woman in the technology industry in its list of the world’s most powerful women. The company has hired a team of headhunters to find candidates to take over the job, having temporarily installed Bartz’s deputy, the chief financial officer, Tim Morse, in the top role. But the mood inside and outside the company suggests Yahoo now faces the most serious challenge to its existence in its 17-year history. The problem for Yahoo is that it is being eaten alive by two upstarts, Google and Facebook, who are absorbing the advertising revenue it used to rely on. Yahoo’s second-quarter results were its worst since 2005 and Henry Blodget, the former Wall Street analyst turned pundit, suggested on his Business Insider website that the firing of Bartz probably indicates that the current quarter is going no better – and possibly worse as companies chop their advertising budgets as the economic weather clouds over. When appointed, Bartz set about slashing costs and staff – a move that made her instantly unpopular among the long-time “Yahoos” – but she was unable to revive the company’s revenues or profits. Since she joined, revenues have fallen more than 25%, and although profits have almost doubled, they are still below the peak seen between 2004 and 2006. Those are telling dates: Facebook had only just begun, and Google only went public in mid-2004. Since then, everything has worsened for the company as those two rivals take more of the advertising revenues it needs. Yet, despite all the problems, Yahoo still reaches an audience most websites can only dream of. It is the fourth most visited site on the web, with an estimated 590m monthly visitors, according to Doubleclick, behind only Google, Facebook, YouTube – and it remains second in search but well behind Google. In the US, Yahoo’s strongest territory, its share is 16% according to Comscore, compared to Google’s 65%. Net profits were $1.2bn – nearly double those of 2009 – but revenues of $6.3bn were marginally lower than they had been the year before. Bartz, a high-profile former chief executive of Silicon Valley software company Autodesk, had a tough reputation . She had few fans inside the company as she slashed staffing: the jobs and career site Glassdoor found that her recent approval rating among current and former Yahoo staff was only 33%, down from around 54% previously. By contrast when Jerry Yang, her predecessor, left 43% of the staff thought he was doing a good job. The average for chiefs on the site is 62%. Of course being chief executive is not a popularity contest, and Bartz, though, had little choice but to make unpopular decisions. Ironically, only two months ago Bostock said that the board was “very supportive” of her. Having dismissed her, he insisted that “the board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo can capitalise” – although the company has made similar claims before. When founder Yang was chief executive, he led the resistance to Microsoft’s blockbuster all cash bid, made in 2008. Yang rejected the hostile takeover offer because Yahoo had devised a set of internal forecasts suggesting its business would grow, beyond what Microsoft was offering. Then came the financial crash, and Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, walked away from the deal. Bartz came back to him to tie up a search deal in which Microsoft is paying handsomely to power Yahoo’s search with its Bing search engine; but the deal is losing money for Microsoft, and bringing Yahoo no noticeable benefit. Microsoft’s bid valued Yahoo at $31 a share. Though the stock rose by 7% initially, in response to Bartz’s ousting, at $13.48 yesterday lunchtime it remained well below the spurned offer. Though the stock jumped at the news of Bartz’s departure, rising by 7% and adding $1bn to its value, Meanwhile, despite the share improvement, the mood both inside and outside the company was not improved. Analysts were unimpressed by the temporary replacement of Bartz with Morse, whom she recruited from computer maker Altera when she joined. “We think this is the right move, but sadly a year too late – Yahoo’s business has already been damaged,” Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry wrote in a note to clients. “Both Carol and Tim should have been fired together as they both have damaged Yahoo’s business and repairing it will be extremely difficult,” the analyst added. As Rupert Murdoch found when MySpace was overhauled by Facebook, once an internet giant starts losing momentum – or just simply ceases to be fashionable – it is very hard to reverse the path of decline. Unorthodox firings Fired by text When The Accident Group ceased trading in May 2003, many of its 2,500 staff a text message reading “Sorry to inform you that you will not be paid today. Don’t bother ringing the office.” Fired by email In 2006, Radioshack emailed 400 unlucky employees to tell them to leave. “The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress,” the message said. “Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.” Resigned by tweet As the chief executive of IT firm Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz turned to Twitter to announce his departure – in a haiku. Fired by fax Andrew Marr was also fired by fax – and then unsacked by phone – during his time as editor of the Independent , after refusing to make job cuts. Fired by Facebook Last year teenager Chelsea Taylor logged onto Facebook to learn she had lost her job in a local cafe. Graeme Wearden Yahoo Yahoo takeover Internet Apple Google Mergers, acquisitions and funding United States Charles Arthur Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
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Jet carrying Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team crashes while taking off in western Russia, killing at least 43 people
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Fifteen-year-old boy charged with murder of Steven Grisales, 21 The devastated parents of a student allegedly knifed to death after remonstrating with a group of teenagers who pelted him with conkers, have spoken of their inability to understand the senselessness of his killing. Steven Grisales, 21, from Enfield, who aspired to be an architect, was stabbed in the chest as he made his way to Silver Street railway station, Edmonton, north London, after running a shopping errand for his elderly grandmother. A 15-year-old boy appeared before Enfield magistrates on Wednesday, charged with his murder. Campaigners against gun and knife crime said the situation in the area, parts of which were scarred by the London riots, was among the most serious in the capital. Mr Grisales, who was born in the UK to Colombian parents, had been studying in Argentina but arrived home on 5 August to take up a scholarship at Westminster College. He was due to attend the college last Thursday, the day he died. He had been stabbed a day earlier as he walked along College Close, Edmonton at 7pm. He suffered a single stab wound to the heart. At the scene on Wednesday his mother, Jasmid, sobbed uncontrollably as his father, Andres, called him “a great boy” who was “very responsible” and “really family orientated”. He had been “so happy” at returning home and seeing his sisters, aged 11 and six, and brother, aged two. Determined to become an architect, he had been studying in Argentina for 18 months, but wanted to finish his studies in London, said his father, who was working in catering in Argentina. On the day of his death he went to his grandmother’s to help her with her shopping. “He did the shopping, ate his dinner and left. And then it happened,” he said. “There was no reason for it. He didn’t drink. He didn’t smoke. He had friends. He wasn’t into any gangs or any large groups. His friends and cousins were all professionals, had all finished university. That’s it,” he said as his wife sobbed into his shoulder. “It’s incredible that this could happen to him. It is devastating for all of us that he was stabbed, without a reason, without nothing. “We can’t explain it. This shouldn’t happen to anyone.” As wellwishers continued to leave flowers at the scene a week on, campaigners against knife crime spoke of a sickness devouring communities, which had been evident in the Enfield area. In April, Edmonton schoolboy Negus McClean, 15, was fatally stabbed in the chest, allegedly protecting his 13-year-old brother from hooded youths on mountain bikes reportedly trying to steal his BlackBerry phone as they left a takeaway in Westminster Road. In July two rival gangs carrying guns, machetes and hammers, had a confrontation in Hertford Road, where a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the hand. And on 17 August, 14-year-old Leroy James died in Ponders End recreation ground, around one mile away, having been stabbed in the chest. The spate of attacks has prompted the Enfield Independent newspaper to launch a “Don’t Carry, Don’t Kill” campaign. Local MPs Nick de Bois, Enfield North, and David Burrowes, Enfield Southgate, areon Thursday due to meet the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, to press for an amendment to a parliamentary motion to impose a six-month mandatory sentence on any adult caught in possession of a knife or bladed weapon. They want the sentencing powers to extend to those aged under 18. The proposals have the backing of Hazel Williams, 51, a former teacher, who organised a peace march through Enfield and Edmonton, which attracted hundreds of people, after Negus McClean’s death. The Nelson Williams Foundation, which she set up four years ago, aims to work with young people and their families to get knifes off north London’s streets. On Thursday supporters were leafleting in the street where Mr Grisales was stabbed, offering counselling to residents, most of whom refused to speak. “People are frightened at what is happening,” said Williams. “My question is what was going through the mind of the others there when one of their friends was suddenly wielding a knife. These are the sorts of questions were are trying to ask the young people in this area. Yes, we have gangs, but no more than anywhere else. And this doesn’t seem to be gang related. “What we are trying to do is work with the young people and their families to make them truly understand the terrible consequences of carrying a knife. Most say they carry for protection. We have to get them to see how dangerous that can be”. To this end, her foundation and its volunteers are organising 16 weeks of workshops and seminars for local families. In addition to the boy charged, police said two males aged 15 and 19, and two females aged 15 and 16, had been arrested and released on bail. Victoria Atta-Saow, 56, outside whose house the stabbing occurred, said a neighbour cradled Mr Grisales in her arms as they waited 27 minutes for an ambulance. “The lady said he had told her the group had thrown conkers at him so he’d thrown one back,” she said. As they waited for an ambulance, a small boy eventually flagged down a passing police car, she said. A London Ambulance Service spokesman denied it took 27 minutes to get to the victim. He said reports of a stabbing were received at 7.02pm, and that two ambulance crews, two single responders in cars and an air ambulance doctor in a car were sent to the scene. He said: “According to our records our first member of staff reached the patient at 7.16pm, once the police had confirmed that the area was safe. The ambulance crew arrived one minute after that.” On Wednesday police officers were conducting house-to-house inquiries and street interviews exactly one week on from the stabbing. Detective Inspector Richard Beadle said the “unnecessary” conker attack “deteriorated quite quickly” and resulted in murder. “Quite a lot of people have seen what happened and we need to find out exactly who did what, who said what and exactly what that involvement was. “I desperately need those people that saw what happened to come and speak to us because Steven has lost his life totally unnecessarily. It is really, really upsetting for everybody that something so trivial can result in a young man losing his life.” He added: “It’s an indication of how sad, how horrific it is that so many people are not only carrying knives in London but are actually prepared to use them.” Witnesses are asked to call the incident room on 0208 721 4961 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Knife crime Crime London Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
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Politicians, police and fire chiefs urge end to ‘inhumane’ rules on funding for 9/11 cancer victims ahead of 10th anniversary Politicians, firefighters and police chiefs gathered at Ground Zero ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to call for an end to the “inhumane” rules under which rescue workers who worked amid the toxic rubble and who have developed cancer are ineligible for help with their medical bills. Over the past decade, most of the millions of dollars spent on helping treat sick Ground Zero workers has been focused on respiratory problems and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Cancer treatment has been specifically excluded from federal health funding, with officials arguing there has been insufficient evidence to prove any direct link between the toxins present at the site and the disease. But last week the results of the first large-scale study, published in the Lancet , found that firefighters who were involved on the day of the attacks and in the weeks that followed had a 19% higher risk of contracting cancer. The study looked at 9,800 male firefighters, comparing those present during and after the attacks with those who were not involved. Carolyn Maloney, who represents a New York district in Congress, said the study provided enough solid evidence for cancer to be included on the list of eligible conditions for federal funding. She was an author of the Zadroga Act introduced in January that provides federal money for 9/11-related treatment. The act excludes cancer, devoting its $4.3bn funds to the treatment and compensation of people with breathing disorders and mental health problems. But it does include a clause that allows new sicknesses to be added to its remit as and when scientific evidence becomes available. “Those who are suffering need treatment now,” Maloney said. Maloney, along with other members of Congress, are petitioning John Howard, the administrator of the Zadroga Act, to have the law amended to include cancer. He has 90 days to respond to the request. Fellow petitioner Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero area of Manhattan in Congress, called the exclusion of cancer sufferers “inhumane”. “People all around us are getting sick and some are tragically dying. For those who are sick with cancer it’s infuriating to see the foot-dragging in making the link between Ground Zero and the disease.” Seventy thousand people took part in the Ground Zero operation, including firefighters, police and construction workers. They worked on the “pile”, the 1.8m tonnes of debris that formed once the Twin Towers collapsed. Environmental dangers at the site included 90,000 litres of jet fuel from the two stricken planes, as well as about 1,000 tonnes of asbestos, pulverised lead, mercury and other highly toxic chemicals. John Feal, a construction worker who was injured during the 9/11 clean-up, said he had attended 54 funerals of those present at Ground Zero over the past five years, 52 of whom had died with 9/11-related cancers. He said he planned to launch a popular campaign that would force the Obama administration to change the rules. “You can blame a lot of this on the terrorists who attacked us that day, but you can also blame a lot on the federal government.” Patrick Lynch, who heads a New York police officers’ union, said: “On September 11, we rescued you. Now it’s your turn to rescue us – New York city police officers who are sick and dying.” September 11 2001 Health United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Politicians, police and fire chiefs urge end to ‘inhumane’ rules on funding for 9/11 cancer victims ahead of 10th anniversary Politicians, firefighters and police chiefs gathered at Ground Zero ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to call for an end to the “inhumane” rules under which rescue workers who worked amid the toxic rubble and who have developed cancer are ineligible for help with their medical bills. Over the past decade, most of the millions of dollars spent on helping treat sick Ground Zero workers has been focused on respiratory problems and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Cancer treatment has been specifically excluded from federal health funding, with officials arguing there has been insufficient evidence to prove any direct link between the toxins present at the site and the disease. But last week the results of the first large-scale study, published in the Lancet , found that firefighters who were involved on the day of the attacks and in the weeks that followed had a 19% higher risk of contracting cancer. The study looked at 9,800 male firefighters, comparing those present during and after the attacks with those who were not involved. Carolyn Maloney, who represents a New York district in Congress, said the study provided enough solid evidence for cancer to be included on the list of eligible conditions for federal funding. She was an author of the Zadroga Act introduced in January that provides federal money for 9/11-related treatment. The act excludes cancer, devoting its $4.3bn funds to the treatment and compensation of people with breathing disorders and mental health problems. But it does include a clause that allows new sicknesses to be added to its remit as and when scientific evidence becomes available. “Those who are suffering need treatment now,” Maloney said. Maloney, along with other members of Congress, are petitioning John Howard, the administrator of the Zadroga Act, to have the law amended to include cancer. He has 90 days to respond to the request. Fellow petitioner Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero area of Manhattan in Congress, called the exclusion of cancer sufferers “inhumane”. “People all around us are getting sick and some are tragically dying. For those who are sick with cancer it’s infuriating to see the foot-dragging in making the link between Ground Zero and the disease.” Seventy thousand people took part in the Ground Zero operation, including firefighters, police and construction workers. They worked on the “pile”, the 1.8m tonnes of debris that formed once the Twin Towers collapsed. Environmental dangers at the site included 90,000 litres of jet fuel from the two stricken planes, as well as about 1,000 tonnes of asbestos, pulverised lead, mercury and other highly toxic chemicals. John Feal, a construction worker who was injured during the 9/11 clean-up, said he had attended 54 funerals of those present at Ground Zero over the past five years, 52 of whom had died with 9/11-related cancers. He said he planned to launch a popular campaign that would force the Obama administration to change the rules. “You can blame a lot of this on the terrorists who attacked us that day, but you can also blame a lot on the federal government.” Patrick Lynch, who heads a New York police officers’ union, said: “On September 11, we rescued you. Now it’s your turn to rescue us – New York city police officers who are sick and dying.” September 11 2001 Health United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Politicians, police and fire chiefs urge end to ‘inhumane’ rules on funding for 9/11 cancer victims ahead of 10th anniversary Politicians, firefighters and police chiefs gathered at Ground Zero ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to call for an end to the “inhumane” rules under which rescue workers who worked amid the toxic rubble and who have developed cancer are ineligible for help with their medical bills. Over the past decade, most of the millions of dollars spent on helping treat sick Ground Zero workers has been focused on respiratory problems and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Cancer treatment has been specifically excluded from federal health funding, with officials arguing there has been insufficient evidence to prove any direct link between the toxins present at the site and the disease. But last week the results of the first large-scale study, published in the Lancet , found that firefighters who were involved on the day of the attacks and in the weeks that followed had a 19% higher risk of contracting cancer. The study looked at 9,800 male firefighters, comparing those present during and after the attacks with those who were not involved. Carolyn Maloney, who represents a New York district in Congress, said the study provided enough solid evidence for cancer to be included on the list of eligible conditions for federal funding. She was an author of the Zadroga Act introduced in January that provides federal money for 9/11-related treatment. The act excludes cancer, devoting its $4.3bn funds to the treatment and compensation of people with breathing disorders and mental health problems. But it does include a clause that allows new sicknesses to be added to its remit as and when scientific evidence becomes available. “Those who are suffering need treatment now,” Maloney said. Maloney, along with other members of Congress, are petitioning John Howard, the administrator of the Zadroga Act, to have the law amended to include cancer. He has 90 days to respond to the request. Fellow petitioner Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero area of Manhattan in Congress, called the exclusion of cancer sufferers “inhumane”. “People all around us are getting sick and some are tragically dying. For those who are sick with cancer it’s infuriating to see the foot-dragging in making the link between Ground Zero and the disease.” Seventy thousand people took part in the Ground Zero operation, including firefighters, police and construction workers. They worked on the “pile”, the 1.8m tonnes of debris that formed once the Twin Towers collapsed. Environmental dangers at the site included 90,000 litres of jet fuel from the two stricken planes, as well as about 1,000 tonnes of asbestos, pulverised lead, mercury and other highly toxic chemicals. John Feal, a construction worker who was injured during the 9/11 clean-up, said he had attended 54 funerals of those present at Ground Zero over the past five years, 52 of whom had died with 9/11-related cancers. He said he planned to launch a popular campaign that would force the Obama administration to change the rules. “You can blame a lot of this on the terrorists who attacked us that day, but you can also blame a lot on the federal government.” Patrick Lynch, who heads a New York police officers’ union, said: “On September 11, we rescued you. Now it’s your turn to rescue us – New York city police officers who are sick and dying.” September 11 2001 Health United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Politicians, police and fire chiefs urge end to ‘inhumane’ rules on funding for 9/11 cancer victims ahead of 10th anniversary Politicians, firefighters and police chiefs gathered at Ground Zero ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to call for an end to the “inhumane” rules under which rescue workers who worked amid the toxic rubble and who have developed cancer are ineligible for help with their medical bills. Over the past decade, most of the millions of dollars spent on helping treat sick Ground Zero workers has been focused on respiratory problems and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Cancer treatment has been specifically excluded from federal health funding, with officials arguing there has been insufficient evidence to prove any direct link between the toxins present at the site and the disease. But last week the results of the first large-scale study, published in the Lancet , found that firefighters who were involved on the day of the attacks and in the weeks that followed had a 19% higher risk of contracting cancer. The study looked at 9,800 male firefighters, comparing those present during and after the attacks with those who were not involved. Carolyn Maloney, who represents a New York district in Congress, said the study provided enough solid evidence for cancer to be included on the list of eligible conditions for federal funding. She was an author of the Zadroga Act introduced in January that provides federal money for 9/11-related treatment. The act excludes cancer, devoting its $4.3bn funds to the treatment and compensation of people with breathing disorders and mental health problems. But it does include a clause that allows new sicknesses to be added to its remit as and when scientific evidence becomes available. “Those who are suffering need treatment now,” Maloney said. Maloney, along with other members of Congress, are petitioning John Howard, the administrator of the Zadroga Act, to have the law amended to include cancer. He has 90 days to respond to the request. Fellow petitioner Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero area of Manhattan in Congress, called the exclusion of cancer sufferers “inhumane”. “People all around us are getting sick and some are tragically dying. For those who are sick with cancer it’s infuriating to see the foot-dragging in making the link between Ground Zero and the disease.” Seventy thousand people took part in the Ground Zero operation, including firefighters, police and construction workers. They worked on the “pile”, the 1.8m tonnes of debris that formed once the Twin Towers collapsed. Environmental dangers at the site included 90,000 litres of jet fuel from the two stricken planes, as well as about 1,000 tonnes of asbestos, pulverised lead, mercury and other highly toxic chemicals. John Feal, a construction worker who was injured during the 9/11 clean-up, said he had attended 54 funerals of those present at Ground Zero over the past five years, 52 of whom had died with 9/11-related cancers. He said he planned to launch a popular campaign that would force the Obama administration to change the rules. “You can blame a lot of this on the terrorists who attacked us that day, but you can also blame a lot on the federal government.” Patrick Lynch, who heads a New York police officers’ union, said: “On September 11, we rescued you. Now it’s your turn to rescue us – New York city police officers who are sick and dying.” September 11 2001 Health United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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