Some Thoughts on Tort "Deform" in Iowa
An Eye-opening Essay by Andrew Smith, Democratic Candidate, Iowa House District 40
“This issue is so important to the citizens of Iowa and goes way beyond this one piece of legislation proposed by Rep. Horbach. The Enron scandal of the past couple years reminded me of the importance of a strong civil justice system. It reminded me that altering our civil justice system to favor large corporate interests erodes society’s ability to adequately deter wrongful conduct. It also reminded me how these so-called tort reform measures being proposed year after year by the Republican-controlled legislature come at the expense of the general public.”
--Andrew Smith
To learn more about Andrew Smith or to contribute to his campaign, go here.
My opponent, Rep. Lance Horbach (R), was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in November of 1997, by a mere 9 votes in one of the closest elections in Iowa history. In 2000, he sold his interest in a small furniture business he co-owned and joined a company outside the district he represents called "Independent Insurance," in Marshalltown, Iowa. According to the company website, "Lance specializes in large account sales development."
This past legislative session, Rep. Horbach was the floor manager in the Iowa House of Representatives of HF 2440, a bill aimed at capping non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. HF 2440, which almost all the Iowa House Democrats opposed and which Governor Vilsack vetoed would have capped non-economic damages in tort, contract, or other actions against a health care provider to $250,000 unless there was a finding of actual malice against the health care provider. Economic damages, or damages to compensate for past or future wage loss, were not capped under the bill. Essentially, what this means is that if you go in for surgery and subsequently develop a disability due to medical malpractice, you could still sue for purely economic damages such as health costs (related to the disability) and repayment of future money you cannot now earn because of your disability under HF 2440, but you could only sue under the cap for no more than $250,000 for any kind of non-economic or "quality of life" damage suffered due to the malpractice. As a result, the $250,000 cap proposed by Rep. Horbach would have limited recovery on a variety of serious and real damages to medical malpractice victims, including loss of ability to have children, loss of body function, loss of body parts, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and physical pain and suffering.
In my opinion, capping non-economic damages is a bad idea because it disproportionately harms children and elderly victims of malpractice, because they often have little or no economic losses. When children, women, seniors and minorities win malpractice lawsuits, a larger proportion of their compensation is often made up of non-economic damages than economic damages. Therefore, in states that cap non-economic damages, children, women, retirees and minorities usually receive significantly less compensation than white males for the exact same injury.
From the evidence and studies available, it appears that caps also fail to lower premiums in every state that has tried them. Trial lawyers, insurance companies, and doctors will continue to debate the effect of caps with study after study, but to me, there is a greater fundamental principle at stake that makes these studies less important, and that is the constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury.
The right to have justice determined by a fair and impartial jury of one's peers goes to the heart of our system of government, and whether to limit this power of the jury to determine justice is much more than a mere economic question - it is a question of whom do we trust.
By arbitrarily capping non-economic damages, Rep. Horbach et al. are essentially saying that they don't believe Iowa juries can be fair, deliberate and careful in their decisions. They are essentially saying that Iowa juries are out of control and their power needs to be limited. But unlike Lance Horbach, I trust Iowa's juries more than I trust the Iowa legislature.
Trusting Iowa Juries: The data available seems to suggest that my trust in Iowa juries is well founded. Even the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce found in a recent state liability study from March of this year that Iowa had the fourth best jury system in the nation. The study also found that Iowa ranked first in jury fairness and fourth best in jury predictability. This study appears to confirm that Iowa juries are already extremely conservative, fair and business friendly even without arbitrary limits being imposed on their power.
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Saturday, August 14
Some Thoughts on Tort "Deform" in Iowa: An Eye-opening Essay by Andrew Smith
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 14 Aug 2004 04:34 PM CDT
Bush 'Needs a Miracle' to Win
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 14 Aug 2004 11:26 AM CDT
Bush 'Needs a Miracle' to Win
Capitol Hill Blue George W. Bush bet his presidency on Iraq and is losing the bet, political analyst Larry Sabato said over the weekend. "He really will need a miracle to win, and the last miracle was for Harry S. Truman," Sabato said, referring to Truman's upset presidential victory in 1948. "He bet his [pseudo-]presidency on Iraq. But he's this close to losing the bet," said Sabato, holding a finger and thumb about an inch apart. He said polls show support for the Iraq war has dropped from about 70 percent of Americans to about 45 percent or less. "Kerry would win very handily if the election were held today," Sabato told a meeting of the Business Council of Alabama. ...Sabato said Bush also must deal with a mediocre economy and a sour mood among voters who see the economic glass as half empty, not half full. (more) The New Swingers The American Prospect George W. Bush is losing voters he once took for granted. He's got no one to blame but himself. ...Imbrogno is a tried-and-true Republican, too, but even so, he says, "I won't vote for Bush. I won't necessarily vote for Kerry; I have trouble with his positions on some issues other than economics." But he supports John Kerry's proposal to end tax breaks for companies that have moved their jobs overseas. Imbrogno is not alone. He's active in the Northeast Ohio Coalition for American Manufacturing (NEOCAM), a group of corporate executives who Imbrogno estimates to be roughly 80 percent Republican. And among his fellow NEOCAM members, he says, "I know I'm not exceptional" in breaking with Bush. (more)
Kerry Slams Bush's Idea for a National Sales Tax
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 14 Aug 2004 08:19 AM CDT
Kerry Slams Bush's Idea for a National Sales Tax
MercuryNews.com MIDDLE CLASS WOULD FEEL BURDEN John Kerry said Thursday that Bush's musing about a national sales tax is an insult to financially struggling voters and would amount to "one of the largest tax increases on the middle class in American history." ..."We know exactly who that's going to hurt," Kerry said. "That's going to hurt small business. It's going to hurt jobs. It's going to hit the pocketbooks of those who need and deserve tax relief most in America." Bush has suggested that overhauling the tax code would be a second-term priority if he is re-[s]elected. While campaigning in Florida on Tuesday, he said replacing the income tax with a federal sales tax is "an interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously." (more)
Will Ferrell's Campaign Ad Parody
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 14 Aug 2004 04:03 AM CDT
Will Ferrell's Campaign Ad Parody
Watch Will Ferrell of Saturday Night Live do his Gee Dubya impersonation in a great campaign ad parody produced by ACT. "pResidenting is haaaaarrrrrrrd." It's called Straight Talk! from White House West in Crawford, Texas. Go here to view the ad. While you're there, sign the petition to prevent fraud in political advertising, too. Just scroll down. Here's another clip to try. From a totally unrelated site, it's Dick Cheney doing a parody of a living person, called "Dick Cheney's Alive." It's sort of funny. Here's the winning ad from MoveOn PAC that's going to be shown during the GOP convention. This one is dead sober. |
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