We agree that the GCCF task is impossibly large to complete within 90 days. We are not sure why any claim submitted with "no documentation" would ever be accepted in the first place. They surely would have no hope of being paid, and serve only to gum up the works. We agree that the most vocal critics are among the ranks of casino employees, and for good reason. Somehow, the whole casino industry was initially labeled as an "unaffected industry". Consequently, every claim with the word "casino" in it was categorically denied. "Additional attention" may not be the best description of what is needed now. Real estate people have had very complex issues of figuring actual and projected losses, requiring the special task force. Many individuals' "restaurant" and "tourism" claims on the Coast have been generously paid, with much less documentation than casino workers'. Casino workers have generally not had difficulty documenting their lost earnings. Many have submitted W2's from '08 and '09 and nine months of pay stubs from '10, exactly as the GCCF requires, and should be the simplest to figure. A great many are clearly projecting a modest loss. What is needed here is to be removed from "unaffected industry", reopened, and to be treated as fairly as so many less documented claims from the restaurant and tourism industries. We know that some casinos have restaurants both casino owned and contract leased. We find that, even though everyone works under the same roof with the same group of guests, contract employees are being paid while casino employees are being denied.
We do not question Mr. Feinberg's honesty. However, The Sun Herald quoted him as saying "we have paid casino claims", yet found only six out of 900 having been paid. From a WLOX interview with him on November 9, "The goal, according to Feinberg, is to make sure casino workers are considered just as fairly as others in the seafood and tourism industry. "What we have to make sure of is that individuals are treated fairly, consistently," Feinberg said. "I'm here to pay claims, not to deny claims." The following week saw a tidal wave of denial letters to casino employees, with no one that we know of having been paid. Where is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
The first 90 days have been an abject failure for Mississippi as a whole and casino workers in particular. The real question is whether we still have any hope at all for the next thirty days?
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