Asbestos Victim's Families Oppose Halliburton Bailout Bill

[JPZenger]

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/8440467.htm

Asbestos victims' families oppose trust-fund compensation

BY TAMARA LYTLE, The Orlando Sentinel

"Lisa Witkowski watched her athletic father suffer through three agonizing months before he died - devastated by cancer brought on by exposure to asbestos.

Now, she wants jurors to hear what the Vero Beach, Fla., man went through - how he was unable to swallow as he wasted away in his last days. She wants jurors to see and feel the pain that came from losing her mentor and rock...

But Congress is considering taking the thousands of asbestos-related lawsuits against manufacturers and other businesses and pooling them into one national trust fund. That means victims and their families would have to use a new administrative system instead of being allowed to sue. And the amount they would receive could be less than what a jury might award.

Witkowski, her mother, Jane, and other victims are outraged - so angry that they have joined a lobbying campaign against the idea.

The fund, Witkowski and others fear, could run out of money because there are so many victims - not to mention others who likely have yet to be diagnosed with the slowly progressing disease caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.

Lisa Witkowski thinks the worst part of the proposal, which is scheduled for a vote in the Senate next month, is that it bars victims from seeking their own decision from a jury...

Companies that bought businesses related to asbestos are scrambling to fend off the suits. Halliburton Co., once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, has offered $4.2 billion to settle 330,000 claims, for instance. By pressing for the legislation, the companies are seeking to reduce the unknown liability of future lawsuits. And the millions they will pay in could be less than what they would owe under the decisions of juries facing thousands of family tragedies."

[Moderator]

1. Moved by Moderator

Not an editorial...

[joanski01]

2. I caught an exchange on the

Senate Floor between Tom Daschle and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD). They were saying that this bill would void all the lawsuits and the progress people have gone through to date and they would have to start over. Daschle said that someone who had been suffering for 15 years would end up getting $25,000.

No wonder the Dems want to filibuster the Motion to Proceed. Orin Hatch is throwing tantrums again, calling the Dems obstructionists.