Call to Action: Stop the Asbestos Tax

There’s a plan to create a slush fund for trial lawyers in the Senate, and we need your help to stop it!

The proposal would create an ‘asbestos trust fund’, funded by a job-killing $140 billion ‘Asbestos Tax’ on businesses and consumers. Originally created Senator Tom Daschle and embraced this session by Senator Arlen Specter, the idea of an asbestos trust fund is intended to create a massive government program that is supposed to compensate asbestos victims. However, it will actually operate as a slush fund for trial lawyers and those who haven’t really been hurt.

No doubt, the Asbestos Tax will hurt the American economy. This tax will be levied on businesses, many of which have almost nothing to do with asbestos. No doubt, these taxes will be passed onto individuals in the form of higher prices and workers in the form of lost jobs. Claimants who have not been truly injured will be able to withdraw from the trust fund, and trial lawyers will be allowed to take up to $14 billion—even though they haven’t been exposed to asbestos.

Congress is correct in dealing with the asbestos litigation crisis. AJunk asbestos lawsuits have forced at least 70 companies into bankruptcy and have killed, destroying as many as 60,000 jobs. However, taxing businesses and consumers to create a gigantic new $140 billion government program is not the answer.

Instead of creating a slush fund for lawyers and opportunistic claimants, legislators should requireforce asbestos claims to meet strict medical criteria. This would ensure that those who really have been harmed are compensated, while keeping unscrupulous attorneys and those fakingthe non- injuredy from gaming America’s justice system.

Unfortunately, good conservative legislators may be convinced to sign onto the trust fund idea as a compromise measure. That’s why we need your help in order to stop the Asbestos Tax. Contact your senators today to tell them that any attempt to create an asbestos trust fund is the wrong solution. You can email your Senator using our automated email service.

Abusive asbestos litigation must be stopped, but raising taxes is not the answer. Contact your Senators and let them know that the trust fund approach is a bad idea.