Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform

Hillary Clinton Hypocrisy Alert

I don't like Hillary or Obama - I'm an Edwards guy all the way.  I laughed out loud when I read this:

Since that declaration Clinton has done just that, attacking Obama's plans for health care, Social Security reform and diplomacy with Iran. She even went so far as to dig up a kindergarten essay of Obama's entitled "I Want to Be President" to accuse him of lying about not having a lifelong lust for the Oval Office. "So you decide which makes more sense: Entrust our country to someone who is ready on day one ... or to put America in the hands of someone with little national or international experience, who started running for president the day he arrived in the U.S. Senate," Clinton said in Iowa Monday. (Emphasis added.)

Will Clinton's Obama Attacks Backfire? - TIME

Hillary is just as guilty as Obama when it comes to running for President the day she started in the Senate.

And for God's sake, who attacks a presidential candidate based upon a kindergarten essay?

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, 2008 Election, kindergarten

The price of computer illiteracy? Only $1,149! Oh, that and your reputation.

Scott Bloch is an idiot.   

Mr. Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later. He also directed Geeks on Call to erase laptop computers that had been used by his two top political deputies, who had recently left the agency.

Geeks on Call visited Mr. Bloch's government office in a nondescript office building on M Street in Washington twice, on Dec. 18 and Dec. 21, 2006, according to a receipt reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The total charge was $1,149, paid with an agency credit card, the receipt shows. The receipt says a seven-level wipe was performed but doesn't mention any computer virus.

Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington's Geeks on Call franchise, declined to talk about specific clients, but said calls placed directly by government officials are unusual. He also said erasing a drive is an unusual virus treatment. "We don't do a seven-level wipe for a virus," he said.

Head of Rove Inquiry in Hot Seat Himself - WSJ.com

$1,149 to wipe a hard drive?  That's enough money to buy 15 hard drives.  If I were in his shoes, I'd have simply destroyed the hard drive with a big fat hammer and bought a clean replacement.  Even if other services were involved, how wise is it to outsource the destruction of evidence... and then allow the service to be documented on a receipt that's paid for with a credit card?

Scott will likely be even happier to learn that programs to do what he paid $1,149 to do are available for free on the Internet, and require very little computer savvy.  Had Scott had the requisite amount of computer savvy, he could have wiped his own drive and then had the Geeks on Call reinstall all of his software.

Technorati Tags: Scott Bloch, destroying evidence, Karl Rove, idiot, waste of money, computer "virus"

Sad, but true fact about tort "reform" laws

A gentleman by the name of Bob Cardenas emailed me the other day about the state of the civil justice system in Texas.  Bob does trial presentations for both plaintiffs and defendants.  And Bob's business has undergone a change.  Since Texas voters were hoodwinked into passing tort "reform" measures in 2004, fewer injury cases are being filed, and few of those are going to trial.  So most of the business Bob gets these days is business v. business litigation, especially patent lawsuits.  In other words, the reformers got their way: Texas courts are now mostly a tool for businesses to settle disputes.  Injured citizens are getting shut out. 

In discussing this problem, Bob wrote the following to me:

"Until a lawmaker’s child is run over by a drug taking driver of a Wal-Mart 18 wheeler and the emergency room team compounds the injury with administering the wrong treatment, will the laws stand a chance of changing back."

It's sad, but Bob is right.  When tragedy strikes a lawmaker, tort "reform" no longer appeals to them. Remember former Senator Rick Santorum?

Technorati Tags: Texas, tort reform, trial presentation

Damage caps would protect this guy, too.

...and anyone else sued for sex crimes.  Should someone who molests teens or rapes women only be liable for $250k per victim?  Well, noneconomic damage caps would do just that.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Two boys are suing a former youth group leader and coach who is criminally charged with plying teens with money, liquor and drugs in exchange for sex.

The lawsuit filed Thursday seeks unspecified compensatory damages for mental and emotional distress from 52-year-old Greg E. Francis. It also seeks unspecified punitive damages for actions Francis allegedly took that were considered malicious in their disregard for the boys' rights.

WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: 2 boys sue former youth leader accused of paying teens for sex

But the "reform" movement never mentions that, do they?

Technorati Tags: tort reform, damage caps, rape, noneconomic damages, molestation

Yet another thought on defensive medicine

I saw an article today about a purported malpractice crisis in Massachusetts, and wanted to comment on this quote:

Even more expensive is the cost of “defensive medicine.” Faced with the possibility of huge malpractice judgments, physicians may feel it necessary to order tests, treatments and procedures that are of negligible medical use — knowing that, if they are not ordered, the omission is apt to figure in some future lawsuit.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

The omission of a test is only apt to figure into a malpractice lawsuit if there might have been a positive outcome for the patient had the test been run.  To take an extreme example: no matter what symptoms I displayed, no doctor would ever order a pregnancy test.  Doctors only order tests that the results of which might be necessary to treat the patient.  And who do these tests hurt?  Not the doctor, because they get paid for them.  Not the patient, as these "unnecessary" tests sometimes result in a life being saved. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I *want* my physician to be defensive.  If there's something wrong with me, I want him to leave no stone unturned in finding and curing my illness.  I sure as hell don't want a doctor to decide that there's only a small chance I have cancer and end up having to lose a testicle because the doctor guessed wrong.  Do you?

Technorati Tags: medical malpractice, tort reform, defensive medicine

An Op-Ed debunks the "tort tax"

Just saw a nice Op-Ed at the Anniston Star.  Here's the conclusion, but the whole thing is worth the short read.

But in his zeal to protect Big Business, Fuller places the cart before the horse and fails to consider just who is to blame for the “tort tax” that he decries, for if there were no unsafe products, then it would not be necessary for Americans to hire tort lawyers in the first place. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, every single year there are about 4,500 deaths and 13.7 million injuries associated with just 15 categories of consumer products, not including automobiles.

Add to these the deaths and injuries caused annually by toxic substances and pharmaceutical products and it should be obvious that the real “tort tax” is paid not in the form of dollars, but in the deaths and injuries caused by industry negligence. There is no doubt that this “tort tax” will soar if Fuller and his strategically named “Alabama Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse” get their way.

The Anniston Star » The real tort tax

I wish someone would put a dollar figure on the cost of those deaths and injuries. God knows the "reform" movement doesn't give a damn about human lives.

Technorati Tags: Tort tax, tort reform, Alabama

Let's not blame the Family and Medical Leave Act for this

Ted Frank at Point of Law discusses a report on abuses of the Family and Medical Leave Act.  One quote jumped out at me:

However, many managers reported that cer­tain types of days, including the day after Super Bowl Sunday or the first day of hunting season, had much higher absentee rates for those employees with an FMLA medical certification.

PointofLaw.com | PointOfLaw Forum: Use and Abuse of the Family and Medical Leave Act

People have been playing hooky from work to go hunting long before the FMLA was enacted, and they'll do it if the Chamber gets the act repealed. 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't have kids, and as such, I've been forced to take up the slack for people who do.  Sometimes, it's been for legit reasons such as a truly sick child.  But other times, it's been for BS reasons like Junior's football game or Princess's school play.  Sorry, if parents get to slack off from work because of their kids, I should get to slack off from work because there's a Squidbillies marathon on the Cartoon Network.

Technorati Tags: Point of Law, Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA

Check out The Committee for Justice For All

Once upon a time, I had a link to these guys because of all the good work they do.  Somehow, the link disappeared.  But thankfully, they haven't.  Be sure to check them out!

The Committee for Justice for All is a Northeastern Pennsylvania advocacy group dedicated to preserving the Constitutional right of all Americans to have a jury of their peers hear their cases and decide what's fair.

We believe the right to a jury is as fundamental to American freedom as the right to vote. The American jury system is the only way average citizens can take on the rich and powerful, and be assured justice. It is what separates Democracy from tyranny.

 The Committee for Justice for All: About Us

Got any other civil justice links I need to know about?

Technorati Tags: Say No To Caps, Saynotocaps.org, Committee For Justice For All