In general “health care week” sounds like a great opportunity for Harry Reid to remind everybody which party is standing in the way of stem cell research. Heck, let’s make it ‘health care month.’
Reader Interactions
56Comments
Comments are closed.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.
Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.
We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.
Petty moves from a petty man.
Nothing worth doing is easy.
Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.
Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.
Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.
They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.
They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.
The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.
’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’
Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.
Accountability, motherfuckers.
Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.
Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.
The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.
If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.
They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.
Celebrate the fucking wins.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.
Let me file that under fuck it.
Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.
Marcus Wellby
Maybe the worst majority leader ever, but he could possibly be the 2nd bestest president ever — right after goold ol’ W.
Frist in 2008! Let’s git ‘er done!
Steve
And yet the Republican base believes these people when they say, “All we want to do is stop frivolous lawsuits.” Suckers.
Lee
If you could make a deal with the devil/God/harry potter and we would get another Christianist President in ’08 for 4 years, but after that the American public would forever distance itself (i.e. not vote for) from that branch of the Republican Party, would you do it?
Zifnab
How long is forever?
And is there an article that doesn’t require a subscription?
Sojourner
Pigs feeding at the troubh
Sojourner
Make that “trough”
Tim F.
NYT registration is free, and you can use bugmenot if even that is too much for you.
Lee
Other than the obvious answer of forever being…you know…forever. Let’s make it 100 years if you want a timeframe less than that.
Lee
Sojourner,
Just read that article. First off ‘YEAH TAX BREAKS!’ (as a libertarian I am required to do that).
But HOLY #^#*(#&#*#&* are the Republicans trying to give up the House AND Senate? Is governing really that tough?
If I put on my tinfoil hat…do they know the election is rigged or something?
Pb
Lee,
What is this, Deal Or No Deal? I’d at least want some assurances that said President wouldn’t get us into “World War III” or something… oh wait… I guess that’s a no, then.
Pb
LOL, that article is priceless.
Oh noes! If the Democrats get in power, they might actually give you a real tax cut! Stop them quick, before they actually help someone! :)
Sherard
You’re hitching your wagon to this ? Are you nuts ?
So let me get this straight, Democrats are in favor of lawyers getting rich off malpractice suits where multi-million dollar settlements are passed along to consumers ? (if you think otherwise you are a damned fool) PS, the cash doesn’t bring anyone back, either, last I checked.
But, again, misdirection is the idea of the day. Blocking malpractice reform in favor of lawyers making millions ? Nothing to see here, but look, LOOK over there, STEM CELLS!!! The repugs are blocking stem cell research. Maybe the dems could propose alternate legislation that limits lawyer’s commissions in malpractice suits to 5%. Let me hold my breath waiting for that one……..
Bringing up stem cells is funny in itself as that’s one of them wedge type issues that fires up the base on the right thay you guys want to stay home in November. Good idea.
Sojourner
Agreed. We certainly wouldn’t want corporations to be held responsible for poorly designed products that injure or kill people.
tzs
I’d jump on board with this if we could pair it with a piece of legislation saying all health insurance companies had to be run as non-profits with fixed salaries.
Moral of story: I think it’s the insurance companies more than the malpractice lawyers. Any state(s) willing to put some legislation in place to allow us to test this hypothesis?
Lee
Sherard,
You do realize that states that have malpractice claim limits (e.g. Texas where I live) have NOT seen a drop in insurance rates?
Steve
What’s hilarious is that this clown doesn’t realize that the defendant pays the same amount either way. I wonder how many other professions he thinks the government should set the price in.
Pb
Don’t forget the #1 crisis facing corporate America today: asbestos liabilities! Heaven forfend we allow people to sue for damages–if we don’t stop them, they might receive just compensation!
Bone-In RibEye
And standing in the way of repealing the death tax will force more farmers to lose their farms when the tax man comes calling after farmerdad dies.
Chidrens toys would be a lot cheaper if companies didn’t have to pay out to lawyers because of frivolous lawsuits. Onve we get some tort reform going companies can stop all that useless safety testing and get those toys on the shelves for cheap.
Derrick
Actually Sherard you might be the fool. A CBO study done in 2003 found that a 25-30% reduction in malpractice costs would reduce health care insurance premiums from between 0.4% to 0.5%. And insurance companies are on record as stating that a cap on medical malpractice suits wouldn’t slow down the increase in malpractice insurance which has gone up much faster than the actual increases in damages.
I know that for you anectdotal truthiness trumps facts and that it’s fun to demonize both Democrats and trial lawyers (goody!!) But if you want health care costs to go down, you’ll ask for single payer and if you want to look for the real reason for the increase in malpractice insurance you’ll scream at the Insurance lobby for hedging their bad investments with an increase in malpractice insurance.
tBone
Thank God. It’s a crime that Happy Fun Ball was pulled off the market.
Pb
And then we can bring back all the old favorites, like ‘Bag O’ Glass‘ (Kid! Be careful – broken glass!) and ‘Invisible Pedestrian‘ (not for blind kids)!
Pb
tBone,
Heh, that’s a good one too. I went old-school SNL instead. :)
Derrick
Also, don’t forget that the worst majority leader in Senate history was the handpicked bagman from the worst President in history. That Bush sure knows how to pick em’.
Bone-In RibEye
Happy Fun Ball. LOL
Steve
Heck, actually, the asbestos situation does cry out for a legislative solution, take it from a lawyer. The Republican asbestos bill does happen to suck, but that doesn’t mean a bill shouldn’t be passed.
Derrick
I haven’t stop laughing about Happy Fun Ball.
Found a link to the original commercial. Hilarious!
gkko.com/videos/2143/happy-fun-ball/
John S.
Perhaps, but what about priorities, Steve?
Congress works precious few days as it is, and with all the other problems facing our nation Republicans feel that asbestos lawsuit reform and extended tax cuts for the wealthy should be our top priorities?
I disagree.
Bone-In RibEye
‘Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.’
Mr Furious
R.I.P. Phil Hartman…
Paul L.
which party is standing in the way of embryonic stem cell research.
BTW, Any advancements occur in embryonic stem cell research that have not been found to be faked?
Bone-In RibEye
Phil Hartman was hilarious.
Happy Fun Ball – SNL – Phil Hartman – NewsRadio – Goofie Ball. Coincidence?
Steve
First of all, I don’t want the Republican Congress to focus on priorities. I want them to waste their time with stupid shit day after day after day until we throw them out of office. Roll call vote on Flag Burning Amendment Versions 1 through 524, please.
But should it be a major priority? Well, it’s more debatable than you think. Keep in mind, the two choices are that Congress spends some amount of time crafting a one-time solution, or else the courts spend substantially more time dealing with litigation that would be eliminated if we had a legislative solution. There’s more asbestos litigation than you think. Here in New York we have an entire special docket assigned to it.
But you’re right that there’s no reason Congress should have to waste several days solving the issue. And the answer is simple – a good, common-sense bipartisan bill could be passed rather easily. The Republican bill is just a big wet kiss to K Street, of course, so it’s not going to sail through like that. But that doesn’t change the fact that a bipartisan solution would be a good idea, and it won’t stop me from pointing out that a consensus solution is, in fact, available.
Pb
Steve,
I guess the question is, how much do the Republicans at the top care, to keep pushing this one? Bush mentioned it specifically in the 2005 SOTU (“Justice is distorted, and our economy is held back by irresponsible class-actions and frivolous asbestos claims — and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year.”). And then, 2006 comes around and… *crickets*
After all, KBR already got away with filing Chapter 11, and is getting spun off. As for the city of New York… well, in the long run, we’ll see, but what do the Republicans care about those liberals, anyhow…
Steve
It’s a K Street issue. Big donors want their legislative priorities to come before Congress, and by golly, it’s Bill Frist’s job to get those bills a vote so the donors can see they’re getting some bang for their buck. And then the GOP gets to go back to them and say, “Sorry, we tried, those darn Democrats blocked us again… better donate more to the RNC next year so we can win enough seats to break a filibuster.” Some industries get lucky and manage to push their pet bills through, like the credit card lobby did with the bankruptcy bill.
This is the basic reason why a common-sense, bipartisan solution never emerges. Sure, Frist’s people could sit down with the Democrats and hammer out an asbestos bill that would be broadly acceptable to both sides, but then they wouldn’t be able to make that fundraising pitch. They’d rather keep swinging for the fences year after year.
PeterJ
There’s obviously no need for a brain if you want to do heart-lung transplants.
Rudi
Yea like Delay’s settlement for his father wrongfull death against a bearing company and Santorum’s settlement against his wifes chiropractor. All stupid lawsuits can be set aside by the judge. The Repugs sure like lawyers and frivolous lawsuits in the Schiavo case or when it lines their pocketbook.
chopper
precisely. i’m so sick of hearing this meme about how it’s the lawsuits driving up insurance costs. it isn’t. the overall amount of payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits hasn’t changed that much. and as pointed out above, caps have no effect, and reducing them has no real effect either. insurance companies just hide behind it to cover their own screwups.
Parahalo
The bill for Global Health Corps looks good.
Everybody wants that money!
Steve
Basically it’s just fun to blame everything on lawyers, although not as much fun as blaming gays or illegal immigrants.
You may have noticed how the party of personal responsibility has a way of blaming everything on someone else.
Pooh
MARS, bitches.
Pb
Pooh,
Wait, I’m beginning to understand… he’s going to send all the asbestos to Mars! We’re saved!
Pooh
How else are we to deal with the manimal hordes?
Zifnab
Damn those bastards who only want to tear the asbestos industry down. Those are good people! Hard working, honest, entrepenuars. Like tobacco farmers and the good people of the NRA. They just want to live and work and feed their families. Why must thousands of people pursecute this defensely minority with their diabolical class action lawsuits? Why?!
The Other Steve
It’s a CRISIS!!!!!
A CRISIS!!!!!
Any day now it’s ognig to become a SUPER CRISIS! We gotta stop it before we see a Mushroom cloud.
Why are Republicans a bunch of Drama Queens?
The Other Steve
A few years ago I met a true wingnut Lawyer. He had worked on the Grunseth campaign, and was deeply saddened when Mr. Grunseth was attacked by the media for skinny dipping with his 14 year old daughter.
He bragged about all the frivolous lawsuits he files. Like the one time he got someone $50,000 from a hair stylist, because they had given a lady a bad haircut the day before she went into for a movie audition and didn’t get the part.
Steve
Hairstylist malpractice!!!! I’m going to write that one down.
Faux News
In that case the entire City of Baltimore needs to be declared a disaster.
Don’t let the mushroom cloud be a beehive hair do!
The Other Steve
Hairstylist disclosure forms, before getting the haircut.
Think about it. There’s a giant market just waiting.
Krista
Absurd. We can blame the lawyers and the insurance companies, and everybody else, but it’s also these individuals who leap at the idea of quick money. I used to get a lift home with a former coworker, and one day we were rear-ended by an SUV. The second thing out of his mouth, after making sure that I was okay, was “Well, I guess my next vacation is paid for.” We can complain about the lawyers all we want, but there are plenty of clients who have their hands out and are all too willing milk it. It winds up hurting those who have genuine cases and really do deserve compensation.
Pooh
Well, as a lawyer, my thought is that we have perfect enforcement mechanisms in place, they just don’t get used nearly enough. I don’t think it would take all that many beat downs with the Rule 11 Stick for the ambo-chasers to get the message.
RSA
Can such a stupid man really be a heart-lung transplant surgeon? Or do nurses have to remind him, “Remember to replace lungs with lungs, hearts with hearts–don’t mix them up”?
The Other Steve
Reminds me of another wingnut friend of mine from college. When he was a kid his father had been crippled by a swimming accident. That is, they were at a campground and he decided to dive into the lake, without first checking to see if there was more than 2 feet of water.
My wingnut roommate never forgave him for not suing the campground.
At the time I was like “Uhh, dude, wasn’t it his own fault?”
Bruce Moomaw
(1) The only possible restriction on malpractice awards that’s worthy of consideration is limiting punitive damages to some multiple — maybe three times — of the actual compensatory damages in any case. And that, of course, is not what Frist and the GOP are pushing. (I suspect one of their side goals in this effort is to try to carve a club to beat Edwards with if he seems likely to be the 2008 Dem Presidential nominee — but I also suspect this won’t work.)
(2) The Republicans who voted with the Dems to keep the filibuster going are a VERY unusual trio — not your usual moderate swing votes. Lindsay Graham wasn’t a wild shock — but Shelby and Crapo? What gives?
Steve
I think a limit on noneconomic damages (“pain and suffering”) is reasonable and should be considered. Punitive damages are a debatable issue, but state courts generally do a good job of reviewing and reducing excess awards, and most punitive damage awards aren’t covered by insurance anyway.
Shelby and Crapo are both lawyers, although I think only Crapo is of the trial lawyer variety. What’s humorous is that Crapo is so unknown that the NYT couldn’t even get his home state right.
demimondian
My favorite piece of frippery is this article. Notice that the title emphasizes that 40% of all malpractice suits are groundless, and paragraph 3 argues that 15% of all payouts are for groundless claims. Notice, then, in paragraph 4 that the author argues — correctly, by the way — that his study shows that the standard claim about the frequency of frivilous payouts is a complete lie. (Oh, look — a jackalope!)
Awesome misdirection.
Steve
Many states require med mal lawsuits to go before a panel of medical experts before they ever get to a judge. If you don’t have any evidence of a medical mistake, bang, you’re out – the court system doesn’t waste a minute on your case. It’s a good system, and you know, the fact that so many states have implemented good systems is why most of the federal action under debate is just a bunch of posturing.