17.2.05
Congress limits class-action lawsuits; bankruptcy relief next
The class war stops for no one, and Congress is showing a real aptitude for prosecuting it.
First, we have severe limitations on the ability of consumers to file class-action lawsuits. Supposedly designed to stop "frivolous lawsuits", what it will actually do is help prevent consumers from holding coporate offenders accountable for their dangerous products.
One Republican had this to say:
"These out-of-control class action lawsuits are killing jobs, they're hurting small business people who can't afford to defend themselves and they're hurting consumers who have to pay more for products," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla.
But when we look at the language of the bill itself, "small businesses" do not stand to gain from this new law:
(4) A district court shall decline to exercise jurisdiction under paragraph (2)-- ... over a class action in which ... (I) greater than two-thirds of the members of all proposed plaintiff classes in the aggregate are citizens of the State in which the action was originally filed ... (II) at least 1 defendant is a defendant ... who is a citizen of the State in which the action was originally filed; and (III) principal injuries resulting from the alleged conduct or any related conduct of each defendant were incurred in the State in which the action was originally filed; and ... two-thirds or more of the members of all proposed plaintiff classes in the aggregate, and the primary defendants, are citizens of the State in which the action was originally filed.
Since consumers harmed by an at-fault "small business" are reasonably likely to be from the same state in which such a business is located, it doesn't seem that the new law will be offering them any kind of bolstered protection against "frivolous lawsuits". The only organizations that really stand to benefit from this hand-out are large, interstate and international corporations. Screw you, mom and pop.
I'd also like to note that the vote for this bill was 279-149, or 65%. Looks like some of our Democratic friends helped out with this one.
Next, there's a bill, likely to become law before long, that will make it much more difficult for consumers to avoid debt through bankruptcy.
Lobbyists for the credit card industry say the legislation is needed to close loopholes that make it too easy for people to wipe out their debts when they could repay some of them.
Consumer advocates say it would allow some rich debtors to continue to hide wealth through homeownership while bankruptcy relief would be denied to many people with low or moderate incomes who have fallen on hard times because of illness, job loss or divorce.
The revival of the good old debtors' prison can't be that far behind.
So a note to the lower- and middle-class Bush voters out there: when young Tommy dies in Iraq or comes home mentally disturbed, when you find out that you can't hold a corporation accountable for that cancer you've developed from their products, and when you can't escape the debt you've piled up, just remember who is responsible. Don't blame the liberals, married homosexuals, radical Islamists, or even George Bush.
Blame yourself.
The class war stops for no one, and Congress is showing a real aptitude for prosecuting it.
First, we have severe limitations on the ability of consumers to file class-action lawsuits. Supposedly designed to stop "frivolous lawsuits", what it will actually do is help prevent consumers from holding coporate offenders accountable for their dangerous products.
One Republican had this to say:
"These out-of-control class action lawsuits are killing jobs, they're hurting small business people who can't afford to defend themselves and they're hurting consumers who have to pay more for products," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla.
But when we look at the language of the bill itself, "small businesses" do not stand to gain from this new law:
(4) A district court shall decline to exercise jurisdiction under paragraph (2)-- ... over a class action in which ... (I) greater than two-thirds of the members of all proposed plaintiff classes in the aggregate are citizens of the State in which the action was originally filed ... (II) at least 1 defendant is a defendant ... who is a citizen of the State in which the action was originally filed; and (III) principal injuries resulting from the alleged conduct or any related conduct of each defendant were incurred in the State in which the action was originally filed; and ... two-thirds or more of the members of all proposed plaintiff classes in the aggregate, and the primary defendants, are citizens of the State in which the action was originally filed.
Since consumers harmed by an at-fault "small business" are reasonably likely to be from the same state in which such a business is located, it doesn't seem that the new law will be offering them any kind of bolstered protection against "frivolous lawsuits". The only organizations that really stand to benefit from this hand-out are large, interstate and international corporations. Screw you, mom and pop.
I'd also like to note that the vote for this bill was 279-149, or 65%. Looks like some of our Democratic friends helped out with this one.
Next, there's a bill, likely to become law before long, that will make it much more difficult for consumers to avoid debt through bankruptcy.
Lobbyists for the credit card industry say the legislation is needed to close loopholes that make it too easy for people to wipe out their debts when they could repay some of them.
Consumer advocates say it would allow some rich debtors to continue to hide wealth through homeownership while bankruptcy relief would be denied to many people with low or moderate incomes who have fallen on hard times because of illness, job loss or divorce.
The revival of the good old debtors' prison can't be that far behind.
So a note to the lower- and middle-class Bush voters out there: when young Tommy dies in Iraq or comes home mentally disturbed, when you find out that you can't hold a corporation accountable for that cancer you've developed from their products, and when you can't escape the debt you've piled up, just remember who is responsible. Don't blame the liberals, married homosexuals, radical Islamists, or even George Bush.
Blame yourself.
