concession counter
If you'd asked me before the election, I would have said that the internet would get less shrill after the presidential election. Clearly I would've been wrong. Turns out we lefties aren't such magnanimous losers after all.
I don't think it's all our fault. I expected the blogs to be sore winners, but between the crowing about a mandate, the confrontational appointments, giving Wolfowitz the Congressional Medal of Freedom... it feels a little like the President's trying to rub our noses in it. At the same time, I know liberal bloggers seem a bit more knee-jerk anti-Bush than before. Partly this is because we've seen how little conciliation gets us. Partly it's because we think the President is foolish and has done a poor job in his first term, leading us to greet anything he does with suspicion. But in large part it's because we genuinely don't like a lot of the administration's proposals. And I'm sad to see online discussions with people I like and respect degenerate into rancor.
So let me offer a tiny, admittedly lame olive branch: I like the President's tort reform proposals.
I think capping pain and suffering damages is a good idea; monetizing agony seems morally problematic to me, and part of an occasional and incoherent tendency on the left to try to protect citizens from the real world. As long as economic damages can be recovered, I'm okay with capping pain and suffering (although the amount should probably be inflation-adjusted). I'd like for it to lead to a larger conversation about the concept of "victims' rights" and capital punishment. Sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing productive to be done about it.
I think reforming the way class action suits work is a good idea. I think the punitive component of class action suits is important, but my preference would be to structure the system so that relevant charities can pursue class action suits to fund themselves. I'm not sure if that's a coherent or realistic idea, but I know that the 30-some cent settlement I somehow received from Bank Of America last year didn't do any good for anyone without a law degree.
And I don't like how much money the Democratic Party gets from trial lawyers. Lawyers are certainly not the diabolically evil constituency they've been painted as, but I doubt they're a worthwhile liability for the party, either.
With all that said, I'm also sympathetic to arguments that much of the proposal will accomplish little, and that the real structural problems with our system must also be addressed with insurance reforms. But I do think the President's proposals are basically good ones.
Comments
"Florida voters in November 2004 approved a change that allows patients to collect 70% of the first $250,000 awarded in medical malpractice cases and 90% of the remainder of the award. Attorneys still would be paid for court and witness expenses."
The amendment passed with a large majority. This isn't a true "cap", but it's a start. I think you'll end up seeing a compromise, a watered down version of what the administration wants.--s
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