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Seriously what did a lawsuit ever do for him?

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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 01:50 PM
Original message
Seriously what did a lawsuit ever do for him?


GEORGE W. BUSH, et al., PETITIONERS v.
ALBERT GORE, Jr., et al.
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html

THE ULTIMATE HYPOCRITES
http://www.centerjd.org/press/release/020126.htm
George W. Bush. In 1999, Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car over a minor fender-bender involving one of his daughters in which no one was hurt. Although his insurance would have covered the repair costs making a lawsuit unnecessary, Bush sought additional money from Enterprise, which had rented a car to someone with a suspended license. In this case, Bush seemed to understand one of the most important functions of civil lawsuits — to deter further wrongdoing. The case settled for $2,000 to $2,500. Burger, Timothy, “Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car over daughter’s fender bender,” Daily News, August 26, 2000; “Bush sued rental agency over fender bender,” Houston Chronicle, August 26, 2000.
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rkc3 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 01:54 PM
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1. Another repub theme - do as I say, not as I do.
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BlueEyedSon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 01:56 PM
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2. Was that SCOTUS thingie in 2000 a "lawsuit"?
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pelagius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 02:11 PM
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3. This most insidious thing about the BushCo "tort reform"...
...is that it will limit damage awards to actual economic damage. For example, a person who is out of work six months can only be awarded six months worth of wages. So, if you're making $25,000 a year, your maximum award is $12,500. If you're making $100,000 a year, your maxium award is $50,000. And so forth.

Sound fair? Maybe in the abstract, but there's one small catch. Lawyers in these types of cases work on a contingency. There are paid no cash upfront; they take a portion (usually about a third) of the award.

This effectively shuts low and middle income people out of the courts. There's a very limited number of cases a lawyer can afford to take on for a few thousand dollars. Certainly nothing that might be lengthy or complex.
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SmokingJacket Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 03:11 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. This is an important point, and one I hadn't thought of before.
THANK YOU for posting this.

(though I hardly need any more reasons to oppose this administration...)
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underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-07-05 03:22 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Yes that is often over looked
but the tort reform package limits pain and suffering/pinitive damages to $250,000-still there will be a bite taken out of that too IF they get that award in a judgement or settlement.
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