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Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 10:58amSanction this postReply
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There was such a bill once but too many have forgotten all about it:

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights

(heee)

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 11:03amSanction this postReply
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Wow,  a piece of common-sense legislation actually makes it out of the House???  I think I may faint...

"But of course this silly legislative effort has nothing to do with encouraging personal responsibility and everything to do with pleasing a powerful and politically connected industry,"

Another Marxist heard from.  I'm surprised this mook didn't use the term, "Big Food" (a la Big Oil, et cetera).


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Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 11:38amSanction this postReply
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Ya know Summer I woud call it common sense legistlation too except for the fact that it is redundant at best (frankly I find these laws dangerous). Of course McDonalds isnt to blame for obesity. This should be common sense knowledge and justice shoule be effected accordingly. It is not, not always anyway. These kinds of laws should be utterly unecessary. The fact that they exist at all is frightening

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 12:02pmSanction this postReply
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 I agree wholeheartedly, Marnee.   My response was based upon current political reality (within the context of U.S. politics and culture), rather than idealism (as yours was).  I guess my idealistic side has withered somewhat over the years.

C'est la vie...

;o)

(Edited by Summer Serravillo on 10/20, 12:03pm)


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Friday, October 21, 2005 - 1:23amSanction this postReply
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Oh, for a bill that instead says, "Listen up, consumers, it's your life, and you'd better bloody accept that you - and you alone - are responsible for the consequences of your actions!"? 
Fat chance!

;-)


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Friday, October 21, 2005 - 9:08amSanction this postReply
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Marty, that would never fly. People might start demanding liberty to match their responsibility, and the scumbags in power can't have that. Why, if people had real liberty and real responsibility, then the nanny-statists would have to get real jobs.

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Friday, October 21, 2005 - 4:14pmSanction this postReply
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I'm with Marnee on this.

In principle, this law is wrong.

The danger here is that Congress sets itself up to decide which lawsuits & class actions are legit and which aren't.

Now, we all might agree that getting fat is down to you and not the guys who sold you the food but the danger is that with successive laws of this type you transfer legitimate responsibility from the transgressor to society as a whole through compensation schemes, regulatory mechanisms & those oh-so attractive "public education" (read:indoctrination) programs.

Sure, you can't sue Burger King but in lieu of that Congress will authorise a whole bunch of socially responsible measures to help those *at risk*.

Fast food vendors should not be held responsible but neither should they be protected by specific laws. It's the role of the courts to decide this at common law. If they ain't doing that then perhaps the Bill of Rights needs to be made more explicit. Just one good ruling from the Supreme Court would solve this issue across the board, surely.

Ross



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Friday, October 21, 2005 - 4:22pmSanction this postReply
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The courts aren't doing their job.  I of course agree that the fast food industry is already "protected" but the simple fact is that in this country, you can sue whoever for whatever and its up to the judge to decide its merit.  A responsible judge would throw a case like that out and fine the plaintiff and his lawyer for wasting the courts time.  Since that only works in the South (and only sometimes) the House didn't have much of a choice here.

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Friday, October 21, 2005 - 4:43pmSanction this postReply
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Well, sure, Clarence, but in what other circumstances will the house feel that it doesn't have much of a choice? That's the danger.

In my New Zealand, in the mid '70s, all of us lost the right to sue for personal injury and a tax funded "no fault" system known as the Accident Compensation Scheme was implemented.

That is, if a drunk driver knocks me down, instead of me being able to sue the ass of him, I receive a paltry compensation from a government agency that I have already contributed to through my taxes. The driver gets off with a charge of dangerous driving carrying a fine and perhaps temporary disqualification.

Here's the thing: the American system of unrestrained lawsuiting is cited as the main reason that our system is *superior*!

We also have a massive bureaucracy whose job it is to regulate workplace safety & fine employers if they transgress. In other words, my prerogative as a maimed or injured person to sue someone has been transferred to an overbearing state apparatus. And worse, in recent years the state has taken to suing those *it* sees as being particularly onerous. I lose my rights. The state assumes more power. We all suffer. That's where you guys are heading.

Ross


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Saturday, October 22, 2005 - 11:47pmSanction this postReply
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=============
I lose my rights. The state assumes more power. We all suffer. That's where you guys are heading.
=============

Hear, hear.

Ed


Post 10

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 10:56pmSanction this postReply
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Yes Hear Hear to Ross,

Those are terrific examples of what Im talking about. I think the risk of a judge making bad decisions, or a jury for that matter are wholly outweighed by the risks (the dominoe effect) of this kind of legislation.

I have a feeling that many if not most judges and juries make very rational decisions. Ill take that over a never ending set of special laws, like Derek said:

"What's next - a bill that protects headphone manufacturers from being sued by customers who've damaged their hearing?"

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