On 02-13-98, MIKE ANGWIN declared to ALL:
MA>      Has anyone raised objections to the pending settlements with the
MA>tobacco industry?
Yup.  I'm surprised you missed it.
MA>It has just occured to me this is a ground breaking
MA>act that may prove to be the sort of history making event that we will
MA>all live to regret.
Yes, it is.  It is an absolutely heinous precedent.
MA>      Consider, for a moment, what we are talking about here.
MA>Government is selling our right to just compensation and civil
MA>litigation.  Your spouse and mine, our children, if by some chance we
MA>should die or be disabled due to the effects of tobacco, will be
MA>foreever denied the fundamental right of taking a tobacco company to
MA>court, despite whatever evidence and strength of a case we may have,
MA>and receiving just compensation.
I have a problem with the idea of suing tobacco companies in the first
place.  Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
MA>      Once this door is opened what will follow?  Will airlines,
MA>pharmacutical compaines, who knows who be lining up in Washington and
MA>the state capitols seeking to buy immunity from civil liabilities from
MA>politicians desperate for cash to fund their pet programs?
How about the possibility of say, the beef industry, being subjected to
the same extortion as the tobacco companies under the pretense of paying
for health problems caused by it?  How about the same thing being
applied to manufacturers of walkmans and other sound systems that damage
hearing because of their capability of being turned up too loud?  How
about milk products that give problems to the lactose intolerant?  Or
maybe all restaurants that serve cheeseburgers and fries.
Almost anything could be subjected to such extortion which is what makes
the precedent such a dangerous one.
MA>      I haven't seen this question raised by anyone and it has always
MA>been my belief that the right of each citizen to seek compensation for
MA>harm done him by anyone to be one of the most fundamental rights we
MA>have.  This appears to be heavy stuff!
It's heavy stuff all right, but IMO, for different reasons.
Bob     /\-/\   - proud Ilk   homebody@galstar.com
C.A.T. ( o o ) Chapter Ilks
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Green Country - Oklahoma      http://www.galstar.com/~homebody/
 * SLMR 2.1a * Getting old is not for sissies.
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