Republican Senate Leader Praises Senator Harry Reid

[Itsthetruth]

Class-Action Bill Near Enactment
House Action, Bush Signature Set to Follow Senate Passage

By John F. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 11, 2005

Major legislation revising the rules by which class-action lawsuits are waged will be headed as early as next week to the White House for President Bush's signature, as easy Senate passage yesterday gave Bush and business groups a long-sought victory they asserted will result in fewer meritless cases clogging the courts.

The Senate passed the bill 72 to 26, as many Democrats joined most Republicans in passing the measure, which will funnel class-action suits with plaintiffs from multiple states out of state courts and into the federal system.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said the passage indicated that bipartisanship is still possible in the Senate, despite several years in which partisan warfare has thrived and relationships across the aisle have frayed. He specifically praised his Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who opposed the measure, for not using procedural tactics that might have stalled the measure even with majority support.

"Harry and I had a commitment to work together," Frist said.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said he hopes the class-action measure "is an example -- I hope it is a template" for more cooperation in the future.

Another Democrat, Sen. Herb Kohl (Wis.), said the measure will take aim at "forum-shopping," in which lawyers file cases in localities where judges and courts are known to be sympathetic to plaintiffs, regardless of whether there is any logic to hearing the case there. "Every bill with merit will still go forward," he said.

Opponents, including many state attorneys general and consumer groups, vigorously dispute this point. The failure of the amendments, said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), showed that "the fix is in" and that the Senate has been "reduced to taking its marching orders on major legislation from corporate special interests and . . . allies in the White House."

Joan Claybrook, head of the consumer group Public Citizen, warned that yesterday's action "has given banks, credit card companies, insurers, HMOs, drug manufacturers and other big corporations a green light to defraud and deceive consumers without fear of being held accountable."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14597-2005Feb10.html

[IndyPriest]

1. If Frist's new-found affection for Reid translates to him calling

off the Repub attack on Reid, I'd say we were moving in the right direction. The chances? Zip. Nada. Nil. So what, more likely, do we have here? An appreciation of the Democratic leader not standing in the way of the paving machine. (Not a slam against Reid, here. I know he has to pick his fights. And I trust him, basically. After al, he voted against the bill.) Frist will show his temporary gratitude to anyone who let's him continue the onslaught. Of course.

[LynnTheDem]

2. Nope. Frist was ordered to make nice to Reid by bush

Because Reid was exposing bush for being either 1) a lying partisan prick (which he is) or 2) a man so deeply ignorant and out of the loop (which he is) that he doesn't even know what the RNC, that he controls, is doing (which he knew as he ordered the "hit".)

Betcha dollars to big nummy fluffy donuts (hungry!)

[Itsthetruth]

3. Why Try To Block The Republican Agenda?

I'm sure that Senator Frist does appreciate Senator Reid's not blocking and standing in the way of the Republican "onslaught" against consumers and working people. It's appears Senator Reid certainly doesn't want to fight on those issues.

He's waiting for something "important" to take a stand on. Have to pick your fights ya know!

Does Senator Reid receive and accept campaign donations from firms that stand to benefit from the Senate bill he could have tied up? That might explain his actions, or inaction, on this and many more bills that come up for a vote this year.

I have to wonder how many times progressives are willing to give Senator Reid a free pass in the hopes that he might actually do something to stop the Republican "onslaught" once in awhile. I suppose that some may celebrate if Senator Reid opposes the Republicans 10 or 20% of the time. And the Republicans will celebrate if Senator Reid doesn't obstruct their agenda most of the time.