American Airlines They lost my baggage and are not taking full responsibility Fort Worth Texas

On December 25th 2007 I flew from NYC La Guardia Airport to DFW Airport And finally landed at LAX. Well when i arrived i was wating for my baggage which never arrived so i filed a claim and was told that as soon as my baggage arrived they would deliver it to my address, they said that because of the holidays alot of bags are delayed but, usually they arive withing 5 days. Well i waited 5 days, however in the meantime i was calling the 800 number they had given me to check on the status with no avail. After the 5 days i was told that my claim was being forwarded to central baggage claim where they would continue the search for my lost baggage. I contacted them on the phone, through email, and regular email and was told that my bag was not technically lost until after 12 weeks. They faxed me a form where i list what was in my baggage and the value of each thing i filled it out and faxed it back and i asked how long it would take before they settled my claim and i was told that it would take between 10-12 weeks. I explained that i was only here on vacation and would be returning to my country (New Zealand) within the next month or so, and if they could please expidite my claim, of course i was told that they could not, they had to follow procedure. Due to their irresponsibility handling my baggage, i have had to stay in L.A. in motels, and have run out of money all because i am waiting for them to settle my claim. I expressed this to them and they said that it was not their fault that my baggage was lost and they are under no obligation to pay for my motel stay, which i think is absolutely ridiculous because if it were not for them losing my baggage i would be in Florida right now and soon on my way back to New Zealand. I believe they need to take full responsibility for losing my baggage and they need to pay for my hotel stays. Is there anything i can do to expidite my claim? I am in desperate need of money, i have nowhere to stay and i can barely eat because of this. Please help and let me know if there is anything else i can do.

Bruce
Hawthorne, California
U.S.A.