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1/7/2009
Wednesday morning
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| Now that they have triumphed over the tobacco industry, trial lawyers have
found a new target, Gov. George W. Bush, and they have been spending huge
amounts of money from the tobacco settlement to keep him and other Republicans
from being elected. |
| And money is what it is all about. When it comes to political action,
corporate America was the pioneer in spending money on campaigns, said Stanley
M. Chesley, a Cincinnati lawyer whose firm gave the Democrats $122,500. They
make trial lawyers look like Mickey Mouse. So trial lawyers are attempting not
only to catch up, but to be a copy cat. If Bush can raise $70 million, the
question is, How can you compete? And there is only one way and that is to
raise that kind of money. |
| To that end, while trial lawyers have long been heavy Democratic Party donors,
the prospect of a Bush candidacy, along with the possibility that like-minded
Republicans would retain control of Congress, has ratcheted up the stakes, and
the donations. |
| Still, while trial lawyers have been focused mainly on one issue, defeating
tort reform and Mr. Bush, corporate America has been donating to Republicans to
advance any number of business issues. Big business donors like the Chamber of
Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and many large corporations
gave to Republicans for many reasons, tort reform being only one. |
| If you had Bush in the White House and a Republican House, bingo, tort reform
would go to the top of the agenda, Mr. Makinson said. And the tobacco
settlement has been the pot of gold that has enabled trial lawyers to suddenly
have lots of capital behind them. |
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