Sleepless at 10 (Central Time)
Posted on:: August 23rd, 2003
There are about 800 people packed into a hangar at the Milwaukee Airport. It’s been festooned with Dean posters and a huge flag – a bit like dressing up the gymnasium for the prom. The crowd has turned out solely on the basis of notices in email and on the web site. It’s Saturday night. It’s 10pm. And the crowd is on fire. They’re applauding, laughing, booing the bad guys, chanting.
The Governor speaks without notes and with no Teleprompter. At the end, you can barely hear him over the crowd’s sustained roar.
Categories: Uncategorized dw
I’m impressed. I was originally for Kerry. But he is afraid to challenge Bush. I’m glad we have a Dean that is not afraid to speak his mind.
Some say that in order to reach swing voters, Dean needs to moderate his tone. They are wrong. Nobody will listen to someone who has no convictions.
I do believe, though, that Democrats should not try the underhanded stuff Republicans are using. We should be the party of cooperation and community and not the party of excessive competition and big business that the Republican Party represents.
This is essentially my theme at my blog, We Don’t Agree, But…
Howard Dean Blogged Campaign Tour
It’s very exciting reading David Weinberger blog live on tour with the Howard Dean campaign trail Joho the Blog: August 2003 Archives I hope he doesn’t get sucked in too much and remains a bit detached. I trust his judgement
I’ve seen and read enough. Investors it’s time to take action. Take four minutes to send your U.S. Senator an email urging him/her to support the “Fairness in Asbestos Resolution (FAIR) Act,” bill number: S. 1125.
Why? How are these for numbers:
1. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The asbestos mess has already cost the economy more than 9/11, Enron and WorldCom put together.”
2. The number of asbestos defendants also has risen sharply, from about 300 in the 1980s, to 8,400 today and most are users of the product, not manufacturers (RAND). These companies span 85% of the U.S. economy and nearly every U.S industry (RAND) and include automakers, shipbuilders, textile mills, retailers, insurers, shipbuilders, electric utilities and virtually any company involved in manufacturing or construction in the last thirty years (Wall Street Journal).
3. 67 major companies have gone bankrupt as a direct result of asbestos liabilities: 20 in the 1980’s, 17 in the 1990’s and 29 from 2000 thru the summer of 2002.
4. So far, 700,000 people – 200,000 in just the last two years – have filed cases.
5. According to a RAND report, claims from people who do not have cancer make up 89 percent of the claims total.
What does all this tell us? It tells us that trial lawyers have found a fantastic way to feed at the trough. This is not to say that people do not have the right to be compensated for their injuries. They surely do, and justice mandates that they be compensated. The problem? The only ones who are really being compensated are the trial lawyers. The asbestos litigation docket is so huge that those plaintiffs who are actually injured often die before they can be compensated because litigation can last for years.
This is not a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is not a labor vs. management issue. This a common sense issue. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in majority opinion, Norfolk v. Ayers (March 10, 2003):
“The ‘elephantine mass of asbestos cases’ lodged in state and federal courts, we again recognize, ‘defies customary judicial administration and calls for national legislation.'”
Since 1981 Congress has made at least 10 attempts to curb the asbestos litigation crisis. Powerful and wealthy lobbyists for the trial lawyers have foiled each attempt. Enough is enough. The “Fairness in Asbestos Resolution (FAIR) Act,” bill number: S. 1125 now before the U.S. Senate is truly a fair resolution to this crisis. No doubt that the bill is long and complicated, but it’s purpose is simple. It will create a huge trust fund (approximately 180 billion dollars) that will be administered to compensate those who have be injured by exposure to asbestos. The bill takes the trial lawyers out of the picture. They won’t get their cut anymore. They’re upset that the gravy train is coming to and end so they’re fighting this bill all the way. We can fight back too. Tell your senator to support this bill. The bill seeks a fair resolution to the crisis, protects our investments, and is sound public policy. For more information consult http://www.asbestossolution.org/