Sam
Guest
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 Posted:
Mon May 16, 2005 4:08 pm Post subject:
your heros in action PEEP's |
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Paying for Asbestos
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/opinion/16specter.html?th&emc=th
But in radio ads that have run in 15 states, Mr. Armey says the bill
would levy $140 billion in new taxes to create a federal trust fund for
asbestos victims. He knows better. Manufacturers, which are liable for
asbestos injuries, and their insurers have offered to create the $140
billion trust fund to avoid further liability. The bill is explicit that
the federal government would pay nothing into the fund.
Mr. Armey also asserts that the fund would set aside billions of those
tax dollars as payoffs to trial lawyers. In fact, the bill caps lawyers'
fees at 5 percent, compared with current contingent fees of 33 percent
What Mr. Armey didn't tell his radio listeners was that, as reported by
the Washington newspaper Roll Call, the lobbying firm that he works for
has received nearly $1 million from Equitas, a British insurer that has
fought to stop this legislation. Posing as a disinterested spokesman on
behalf of the public interest, Mr. Armey is instead just another paid
lobbyist spreading disinformation |
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