BUSH'S PROPOSED LEGAL RESTRICTIONS WOULD TAKE AWAY OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY

"It is ironic that at a time when American soldiers
are fighting to bring freedom and the rule of law to
Iraq, President Bush wants to undermine our
Constitutional rights here at home. Limiting the
compensation a jury can offer a child paralyzed by
medical malpractice or a parent abused in a nursing
home; restricting legitimate consumer class action
lawsuits; and bailing out asbestos companies who
knowingly poisoned people for decades weakens our
Constitutionally-guaranteed jury system. The sad fact
is that the Bush administration doesn't trust the
American people, the very citizens who serve on
juries and listen to all the facts of a specific case.
Bush advisor Grover Norquist acknowledged the elephant
in the room when he admitted that these proposals are
political payoffs to the insurance, tobacco, drug,
chemical, and other industries that have spent
billions of dollars to avoid being held accountable
for their actions. As Mr. Norquist so inelegantly
revealed, these proposals are good politics for their
donors, but bad policy for American families. Bush is
most misleading when he talks about medical
malpractice. His proposal limits compensation for all
victims of medical negligence, no matter how bad the
injury or how egregious the mistake by the doctor,
insurance company or drug maker. The president
unashamedly advocates legislation that would protect
insurance industry profits and prohibit any
punishment for the makers of dangerous drugs like
Vioxx, while penalizing innocent victims like Dylan
Malone, whose son Ian was killed by medical
negligence. It's a national scandal that 100,000
innocent patients like Ian Malone die from negligent
medical care every year and that millions more are
injured, while Bush refuses to meet with the innocent
victims his plan would hurt.