Asbestos Litigaton Reform

By Dick Armey on July 15, 2011

Mitch McConnell's Premature Retreat

Sen. McConnell's plan to kick the can down the road on spending reform is no "strategic political victory."

Mitch McConnell

By Anonymous on December 31, 1969
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By Adam Brandon on June 23, 2006

House Conservatives Push for Asbestos Medical Criteria Solution

Send letter to House leaders backing real reform.

Now that Sen. Arlen Specter’s terrible idea of an Asbestos Trust Fund appears dead in the Senate, House conservatives are mobilizing to pass a real solution to the asbestos litigation crisis. There is bipartisan consensus that Congress needs to act soon; runaway lawsuits have already bankrupted 75 companies and destroyed more than 60,000 American jobs.

By Adam Brandon on June 16, 2006

Please Cosponsor H.R. 1957 to Stop the Asbestos Litigation Crisis and Sign Shadegg Letter

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey sent this letter to the House of Representatives on Friday, June 16.

Dear Representative:

On behalf of more than 800,000 FreedomWorks members nationwide, I write to urge you to cosponsor H.R. 1957, the “Asbestos Compensation Fairness Act of 2005”, and to sign a supporting letter being circulated by Representative John Shadegg.

There is bipartisan consensus that Congress needs to act to end the asbestos litigation crisis, which has already bankrupted 75 companies and destroyed more than 60,000 American jobs.

By Web Team on June 08, 2006

Former CBO Director Testifies Against Asbestos Trust Fund

Devastating case against the FAIR Act.

Testimony of Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Director, Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies
Paul A.Volcker Chair in International Economics
Council on Foreign Relations

before

Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. Senate
June 7, 2006

By Adam Brandon on June 07, 2006

Devastating Testimony Further Undermines Asbestos Trust Fund

Former CBO Director Holtz-Eakin testifies that taxpayers would be left with multi-billion dollar liability.

Testimony delivered today by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin in the Senate Judiciary committee furthered sidelined Senator Sector’s proposed S. 3274: The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution (FAIR) Act of 2006. Holtz-Eakin compared the Asbestos Fund to the current crisis in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a similar ‘privately’ funded government program that is under funded by potentially hundreds of billions of dollars.

By Web Team on May 31, 2006

Specter, Leahy Make Final Attempt at Asbestos Measure

Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) are renewing their relentless effort to secure Senate passage of a bill to replace the asbestos-litigation system with a $140 billion trust fund, but they continue to face considerable obstacles.

On Friday, Specter introduced a new version of the bill and again warned that the Senate faces a do-or-die moment. This bill represents his last stab at the issue, he vowed.

By Matt Kibbe on April 07, 2006

Preventing an Asbestos Mess in Kansas

Pass asbestos litigation reform legislation: House Bill HR 2868.

Better safe than sorry – sound advice every mother gives their child.

Soon, the Kansas State Legislature will have a chance to follow this sage advice in the form of asbestos litigation reform legislation: House Bill HR 2868.

Lucky for the people and businesses in the state, Kansas has not become a hotbed of questionable asbestos litigation.

However, the Legislature cannot afford to be complacent about this matter because the current law in Kansas makes the state a ripe target for trial lawyers looking to exploit the system to their advantage.

By Web Team on April 04, 2006

Future of Asbestos Bill Looks Iffy

Opponents of the legislation keeping up their fight.

Crowded out by the debate over immigration policy, the war in Iraq and tension over Iran, the asbestos reform bill is on Congress's backburner, waiting for a new push.

But while it's unclear whether there will be action on the bill in the coming months, opponents to the legislation are continuing to work to ensure the bill doesn't get another chance.

By Dick Armey on March 03, 2006

Asbestos Trust Fund is its Own Crisis

The $140 billion Asbestos Fund is opposed by a broad range of groups from all parts of the political spectrum.

This piece orignally appeared as an oped in Investor's Business Daily.

The Senate’s $140 billion Asbestos Trust Fund is shaping up to be the 2006 version of the Medicare prescription drug bill: a giant new government program being pushed by Republican leadership and opposed by a broad range of groups from all parts of the political spectrum. If passed, it will be bad news for taxpayers, asbestos victims, small and medium sized businesses, and the politicians who vote for it.