[Homestead] Too many Bush scams to keep track of---"tort reform" ranks up with "bsnkrupcy reform", "Social Security Reform,, "Leave No Billionaire Behind Tax Scam"
tvoivozhd
tvoivozd at infionline.net
Wed Feb 2 13:15:30 EST 2005
WHAT'S BEHIND "TORT REFORM?"
1/25/2005
At George W's recent "National Economic Conference," an entire session
was devoted to bashing trial lawyers � and what a rollicking good time
it was!
A panel of corporate interests wowed the hand-picked audience of Bush
partisans with jabs at the lawyers who try to hold wrongdoing
corporations accountable to those of us who are harmed. George himself
nodded and chuckled as panelists cried about people who sue these
business empires.
For example, Home Depot's CEO, Bob Nardelli, a fat cat Bush donor, was
there, wailing that his $64 billion-a-year retailing Goliath is a target
for pesky consumers and their lawyers: "You've got deep pockets
colliding with shallow principles," Bob snorted, drawing guffaws from an
appreciative George who is demanding that congress limit the rights of
consumers to bring lawsuits against the Home Depots.
Missing from Bush's BashFest was Mary Penturff. Even if invited, though,
she wouldn't have come, since... well, she's dead. Her head was crushed
by a 75-pound box that fell from one of Home Depot's "high-stack"
shelves. Nor could Janessa Horner be there to testify. This
three-year-old's body was shattered by wood fragments when more than a
ton of kitchen countertops fell 10 feet from a Home Depot forklift,
splitting a main blood vessel in Janessa's brain. She died four hours later.
Nardelli tries to keep secret the number of people killed or maimed by
Home Depot � which has been labeled "the most dangerous store in
America" � but it's known that in one year alone they were getting 185
injury claims per week. Why doesn't Bob do something about it? Because
it's more profitable for him to settle with the families than to change
the dangerous way his stores are operated.
And it's even more profitable for him to back his buddy Bush, who'll
then push a law to keep families like Mary Penturff's and Janessa
Horner's from suing Home Deport for their loss, pain, and suffering.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Conference mocks trial lawyers," The Mercury News, December 16, 2004.
"Accidents claim lives of Home Depot shoppers," Atlanta Business
Chronicle, February 21, 2003.
"Home Depot must make stores safer," Atlanta Business Chronicle,
February 21, 2003.
"Danger in the aisles," Atlanta Business Chronicle, February 23, 2003.
"How Home Depot keeps store accidents secret," Atlanta Business
Chronicle, February 23, 2003.
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