Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Except for 16 and 18, the former of which I oppose philosophically and the latter of which I think is bullshit which cannot be supported by the facts, we are in agreement.

Does this make me a Spanky Republican or you a Wonkian Democrat?

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

16 and 18. What a surprise considering you are a lawyer. The trial lawyers and the unions are a big separater between the two parties. I think that makes you a DLC Democrat and me a moderate Republican.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

T's malpractice insurance ends at the door of a court room- at least the way you mean trial attorney. But you're rgiht about these guy's motives.

election day 2000 there were several Michigan Sup. St. seats up. I was talking to a neighbor who did PI work. The court here had really been limiting damage awards agressively.

Anyway he was telling me how important the election was to my daughter's future (meaning Bush would really fuck things up I think) I kept asking him what in particular bugged him. He finally admitted that if the libs lost anymore Supreme Court seats he was out of business.

That's the way all these liberals think. "Keep the poor on the dole and keep my hand in till and I'll vote Dem"

Thank God they're on track to lose 3 more Senate seats next year.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I heard that once they're done dismantling trial lawyers' practices, theyll turn to their next project of loosening the patent bar requirements to make it easier for folks to ship those US Patent applications from Bangalore at $25/hr.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

What's a DLC Democrat?

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Every objective study I've ever seen of the so-called "tort crisis" has proven it to be a total sham. For every rEdiculous jury award, which judges have the power to reduce, there are several people who get fucked over every year because their claims are too small or the costs of suit too high, to take on the insurance industry and it's army of captive "firms."

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I do lot of work with the Chamber of Commerce. When they poll their members asking them what is the biggest political issue for them, they say "law suit and insurance". It is the fear of litigation and the high cost of litigation insurance that is the biggest thing hampering their success.

This is the word from small business, and small businesses are the engine that run this country. Most people in this country are employed by small businesses, most of the growth is generated by small businesses, and sometimes small businesses turn into big businesses like Microsoft.

I have worked as a lawyer in a few countrys and I can tell you the litigation climate here is totally different. Our litigious society makes us less competivie and hurts growth.

Trial lawyer organizations are a pox on our society.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Democratic Leadership Counsel. I post their stuff here all the time. Clinton was in charge before he became president. It is the pro-businss wing of the party. They supported CAFTA.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Wonk- the problem isn't really the stray odd verdict. the problem is that business has to fund a huge insurance industry that employs an army of firms. only GGG could think that was free.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I have heard this before, but I think this is just Trial Lawyer propagands. If this were true why is this the biggest issue for small business owners. Are they delusional? Do they not understand their own business?

You can sit there and tell me all day that the tests show their is nothing wrong with the patient, but if the patient is screaming in agony I am going to trust the patient.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Then I would submit that the problem is the insurance industry. Because of you look at the econometric studies that have been conducted, what you will see is that jury awards and settlements have remained largely constant in real dollar terms while premiums have risen.

I know insurance costs are high. My malpractice premiums are going up 30% this year. But attorney malpractice claims and awards have not even kept pace with inflation.

DLC: The Dems we like but have trouble beating
 

Here is the latest press release from the DLC. They are generally excellent.

=============================================
THE NEW DEM DISPATCH, October 14, 2005
Political commentary & analysis from the DLC =============================================
[http://www.DLC.org ]

Idea of the Week: Building On Strong Neighborhoods

Urban revitalization was one of the hot political topics of the
1990s, as central cities across the country reinvented themselves as
economic engines and dealt with long-festering inadequacies in their
housing stock, schools, law enforcement strategies, tax policies,
and political cultures.

Now you don't hear much about this subject on national television,
but in many cities pioneering work goes on. That's especially true
in San Jose, California, a remarkably diverse city that recently
became America's 10th largest, where Mayor Ron Gonzales' Strong
Neighborhoods Initiative, launched five years ago, is beginning to
bear fruit.

The two simple insights at the heart of Gonzales' initiative are:
(1) people belong to neighborhoods more immediately and intensively
than to political subjurisdictions, government service delivery
units, or even to cities themselves, and (2) the 1990s-era movement
in public administration towards treating taxpayers as "customers,"
while laudable as a way of breaking down bureaucracies and improving
government performance, is no substitute for engaging them as
citizens with a legitimate stake in decision making.

Even more importantly, the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative is
intended to serve as a permanent foundation for community and
economic development in San Jose, as reflected by its slogan: "It's
not just an initiative; it's how San Jose does business."

The basic structure of the SNI is a network of 20 Neighborhood
Advisory Councils operating in self-selected neighborhoods where
roughly one-third of the city's population lives. An extraordinary
effort has been made to ensure that these councils reflect each
neighborhood's ethnic and economic diversity, and to avoid conflicts
such as those which often develop between property owners and
residents. Each council is responsible for coming up with a
practical priority list for neighborhood improvements -- not just
a "wish list," but projects and services that are within the city's
financial means and can attract private investment and property- owner contributions -- linked to a tangible vision of that
neighborhood's future.

For its part, the city has devoted $120 million in funds to the
initiative, and has deployed 30 full-time city staff to work with
the neighborhood councils and to act as intermediaries with the full
range of city agencies whose services and projects are involved.

Of the 190 "priority list" projects identified by the neighborhoods,
60 have been completed. They range from homework help centers for at- risk kids, to a community mural to replace graffiti on a "gateway"
bridge, to street repairs and traffic control changes, to community
gardening areas and road median landscaping.

Aside from the impact of projects in specific neighborhoods, Mayor
Gonzales -- who regularly spends Saturdays visiting individual
neighborhoods in his city -- has incorporated neighborhood
priorities into city-wide priorities. He declared "war on graffiti"
in San Jose largely as a result of neighborhood concerns, and was
able to "declare victory" within two years. More recently, he
launched a neighborhood-based campaign against litter. In
combination with intensive efforts to clean up toxic wastes and
reduce traffic congestion, these initiatives helped San Jose to a
number two ranking in a Reader's Digest listing of America's
cleanest cities.

While the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative may not be as flashy and
easy to summarize as the one-shot, one-issue "revitalization"
projects so common in the urban landscape of the recent past, its
practical sustainability and foundation in citizen involvement gives
it real staying power. As Gonzales simply puts it: "We're
revitalizing our neighborhoods, and residents are in the driver's
seat." And that's why DLC chairman Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, after
a recent visit to San Jose, credited the city for "restoring a sense
of participatory democracy."

Related Material:

San Jose's Strong Neighborhoods Initiative <http://www.strongneighborhoods.org/>

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Stop and think this through for just a second, Spanky. Small business owners don't pay jury awards. They pay insurance premiums. I don't dispute that premiums are going up. I just dispute that liability premiums have any rational relationship to jury awards or settlements.

And it's not trial lawyer propaganda. I'm talking about purely objective studies done on a strict mathematical basis by independent sources, like academic and governmental researchers.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

30% Wow. See, you are a small business and it is a problem. If the problem is the insurance company's is it becaues they are overegulated? If the premiums are going up but the claims are not shouldn't the insurance company's be showing record profits? And if they are shouldn't more company's be getting into the business?

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

While I am definitely a DLC Democrat (and probably disagree a bit with a couple more of your statements), I'd say this really just proves that the devil (and a lot of wiggle room) is in the details.

S_A_M

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I think if you look at it, you'll see that premiums tend to go up across the board when things like hurricanes, which have nothing to do with lawsuits, create losses. They also go up when investment returns drop due to a falling or stagnant market. In short, premium rates for any given policy have far less to do with the risks generated by that pool than you would expect.

And I would say thaty it's not a problem caused by the insurance industry being overregulated. If anything, it's poorly regulated, not for lack of regulators so much as historically entrenched cronyism amongst regulators and regulated.

It's not for nothing that the first thing a lobbyist in Baton Rouge or Springfield asks when he finds out about a major capital project is "Who's writing the insurance?"

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I think it mostly has to do with the investments they have to hold to back their underwriting - they hold investments, and when the market goes soft they need to increase premiums (regardless of increases in claims) to make up the difference in earnings. Sort of like pension funding (but not, really). Whether that makes the insurance industry overregulated or not is not something I am prepared to get into.

Of course, my knowledge of this area is third hand and annecdotal, so I am mainly talking out of my ass.

I disagree with a different subset of items, but I'm too tired to get into it. Overall, I'd vote for you before I'd vote for any of the other platforms I've heard discussed by candidates of any stripe.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

And agreeing on stuff is no fun.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

Insurance is regulated at the state level (I think under some crap called McCarran-Ferguson...). You get dim political hacks overseeing regs, liquidating companies early, rehabbing companies on silly bases. Add to the lack of state govt talent (an oxymoron in itself) overseeing the industry, the fact that a lot of deals (a whole lotta reinsurance treaties) are poorly written, modified by customary dealings (often, believe it or not, handshakes) and are arbitrated under all sorts of different laws in various countries, and you have an unregulable mess.

My brief experience with the industry led me to conclude that its like a massive pool of cash, sloshing around in all sorts of directions, between brokers, intermediaries, insurers and risk trading floors, many of whom turn out to be the same party operating on different sides of the contracts through subsidiaries. The accounting is a disaster also. I don't think anyone in the indutsry could ever figure out how much money he's leaving on the table at any given moment.

I ran from that work because it was insanely frustrating. Its like being in a money hurricane and trying to grab all you can and hope you're getting ahead.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

I disagree. The companies raise rates as far as they can get away with doing. The med mal crisis is a sham. The doctors are being manipulated by insurers. What needs to happen is the lawyers and docs getting together and suing the insurers for gouging. If you go through all the studies, you'll see the industry raises rates in response to disasters or dips in their investments. Thats breaching the very center of the insurance contract, which agrees to charge based on risk (its not written exactly that way, but thats the center of the concept behind insuruance since its existed). I'd love to bring a class action against insurers on behalf of doctors and fuck them up like the tobacco companies. But that case would probably run through 2134.

I hate regualtion generally, but insurance is one of those areas where the states should be pre-empted, and we should have some Fed Agency manage it like the SEC.

I would disagree with you just to liven up the board but what you say sounds sensible and I don't know anything about insurance.

Btw: I finally got to meet Penske in person and he looks nothing like the Baby Jesus. Very disapointing.

The DLC
 

And another thing, you people on the board that think you are DLC democrats (Hello Tax Wonk, S_A_M, Sidd etc) you should join and lend a hand. They are in a tough battle for the soul of the Democrat party and they need help.

In order to be competitive the Dems need to start nominating DLC candidates (like Bill Clinton) to have a prayer. And in addition, when they get elected, it makes for better policy.

Two These Things Are Not Like The Others
 

So much confusion, so little time.

Corporations generally behave rationally. You seem to be describing a business model that would be profitable. But, if you look over the various states' insurance ennvironments, you'll see that, in many cases, insurers have completely pulled out of various state markets.

This would make no sense in your model. It does make sense if you consider that a legal environment can mean the difference between the possibility of profit, or not. If an insurer can manipulate the doctors, and gouge higher premiums than what is called for, why would they walk away from that business?

Answer is, they don't. They walk away from guaranteed losers.

As to "breaching the contract" - consider that a state's legal environment is one factor in the risk picture.

2, although I do believe that the babyjesuschristsuperstar wore dresses. Debtslave is that true?

Dissent. The resemblance was uncanny.

No dude, THAT was the waiter.

Translation: God speakes to me in person- I know what his kid looks like.

I guess that I probably disagree with you here based on what our values for "absolutely necessary" are. How do you feel about securities regulation, accounting rules, antitrust law and product liability standards?

I would consider all those things absolutely necessary. The government can intervene for the health of workers, the health of consumers, the health of the enviroment and to prevent fraud. In addition, the government should intervene to increase competition.

Rules that increase transperency, create stability that leads to more competition is fine.

It should always act in the interest of consumers. Never to protect producers or people from the "swings of the market". The only time the government should do market invervention is to inrease comptition, not limit it. Airline regulations and telecome regulations that restrict access to potential new entreupeneurs should have never been implemented. The focus should always be to increase competition.

Book Club
 

How comes Collapse, Spanky? You should hurry and finish it before bilmore disappears again, since he has read it too.

I'm currently reading The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Apparently it has had some bad reviews, but it think it is a pretty good summary of the reasons for and results of globalization of the economy. I dare say you'd like it, Spank. FYI.

What happens when rules imposed to protect the health of workers or consumers act to decrease competition? At what point do rules intended to prevent fraud become anti-competitive?

Book Club
 

First this is the wrong board for the bookclub. With all your primping about improper posts, you at least should follow the rules.

Second the bookclub has now finished "Never Let Me Go." We are voting for the next book now. Only members in good standing- i.e. people who contributed to the discussion on NLMG- have a vote. You/Spanky do not have a vote. Maybe take a lesson.

Book Club
 

Spanky and I have a more streamlined, user-friendly book club process than your bureaucracy-laden, discussion-suppressing dictatorship of a book club. So as to better compete in the global market for internet book clubs. Don't call us, we'll call you.

Book Club
 

I ordered Collapse from Amazon and the order got screwed up and arrived on Monday. I own the World is Flat. I will read them both. The World is Flat we will make number 2.

Rules that are imposed to protect the health of the worker or consumers almost always decrease competition. Same with rules against fraud. They take priority over competition. But when the rules are applied they should be applied with the idea of effecting competition the least.

The main problem is when the government tries to pick winners and losers in an industry. That is what needs to be prevented. If the government looks after the well being of the consumer then they almost never go wrong.

It is when the government tries to protect producers you get into trouble.

Price controls, subsidies, over regulation, almost always screw the consumers for the benefit of a producer who usually has a lot of lobbyists in Washington.

Book Club
 

the books I pick have better fuck scenes than the books you and spanky pick. I'm betting your book club can be done via PM because no one else will join.

Book Club
 

When and where did this discussion occur?

Book Club
 

Forget it, he's rolling.

Book Club
 

Oh, and by the way, RT posted the 100 greatest novels ever written on FB and Never Let Me Go is on it. ncs' books on any lists?

Book Club
 

A book has one, and only one, essentially cheap tricky point to make, and it gets on someone's Best 100 list?

Standards. Whatever happened to standards.