WP: Bush to Seek Limits on Lawsuits [View All]

[kskiska]

Fierce Battle Over Curbs Is Expected

Empowered by reelection and a more Republican Congress, President Bush and his White House aides are betting that 2005 will be the year for big strides in the longtime conservative crusade to curb lawsuits and bring to heel trial lawyers who profit at the expense of corporations.

But as Bush heads to Illinois this morning to launch a major campaign to change the nation's laws on medical-malpractice and class-action lawsuits, allies on Capitol Hill and top business groups warn that prospects for change are less favorable than many had assumed after Bush's victory two months ago.

The recently publicized problems of pharmaceutical companies and a handful of GOP dissidents spell trouble for one of the most far-reaching proposals in the Senate -- the same place where Democrats and their trial-lawyer supporters have managed to kill similar measures in recent years, according to business lobbyists and Senate leadership aides.

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And Republicans do not have a unified front. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) has called Bush's plan for capping malpractice suffering awards among the worst bills facing this Congress, and one that appears to unfairly and unwisely target trial lawyers. "The dirty little secret in Washington is the trial lawyers have a few Republicans in their pocket," a Republican close to Bush said.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48532-2005Jan4.html