Business is booming in Alabama, despite supposedly poor legal climate
"Reform" groups have a vested interest in engaging in fearmongering over the civil justice system. The executive directors of most state "reform" groups earn six-figure salaries, which come from donors who believe the civil justice system is broken. A common charge levied against the tort system is that the legal climate is preventing businesses from coming to an area. Certainly, the "reform" movement has tried that in Alabama. Here's a letter to the editor that calls their bluff.
New businesses rain on Alabama:
Alabama may be in the midst of a severe drought as far as rain, but new businesses are raining down on our state. Notwithstanding the claims of some organizations, lawsuits do not seem to be preventing corporations from locating new plants in Alabama.
On May 11, ThyssenKrupp approved a proposed $3.7 billion, 2,700-worker, steel-finishing complex in Mobile County. On June 12, The News reported Magna International Inc. is looking at a northwest Alabama site for a North American vehicle-assembly plant. Hardly the kind of activity you would expect to see from companies fearing the litigation explosion, or is there really such an explosion?
According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, the number of civil trials dropped by 47 percent and tort cases dropped by 31 percent between 1992 and 2001. However, as reported in The News recently, CEO compensation has seen a dramatic rise during this time. Of the companies listed in the Standard & Poor's 500, the CEOs received a combined $4.16 billion in 2006. If the minimum wage had increased at the same pace as CEO pay since 1990, the minimum wage would be $22.61 per hour.
So, business is up, CEO pay is up, minimum wage is stagnant and tort cases have dropped. Hmmm, it does seem like there is a problem here.
Jon E. Lewis
Downtown
Source: Letters, faxes, and e-mail- al.com
Can you imagine the howls if a legislator suggested tying minimum wage to CEO salaries?
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