Wednesday, July 28, 2004
The Legend of the Wicked Trial Lawyers
Tammy Baldwin's health care speech at the Democratic Convention the other night had the effect of decloaking her challengers. Radio station owner Dave Magnum, one of two Republicans seeking the nomination in the primary (which ain't until September 14, almost absurdly late) says Baldwin is all talk and no action. His idea for cutting health care costs? Limiting the amount that patients can win in medical malpractice suits. Wisconsin Public Radio reported Magnum's claim that "the suits cost the country 23 billion dollars, and reining in trial lawyers will reduce health care costs from five to nine percent." But the Congressional Budget Office reported in January that the cost of lawsuits adds only about two percent to the cost of health care, and the most that we could hope for by reining in such lawsuits would be a savings of less than one-half of one percent. There are other, more effective measures Congress could take--like holding down the cost of prescription drugs--but the story that trial lawyers are to blame for the high cost of health care is as sturdy an urban legend as the one about the guy with the hook in Lover's Lane.
In the same WPR story, Magnum went on record as supporting stem-cell research, which is a plus in his favor. You can bet that this will be a large bone of contention in Magnum's primary race against Ron Greer, if Greer can convince anyone to pay attention to him. Greer lost to Baldwin by nearly 2 to 1 last time. A Baldwin staffer told me in February they'd heard he sent out a fundraising letter to his 2002 supporters gauging their interest in supporting him this time and could only drum up $500--but he decided to make the race anyhow. He's a textbook social conservative, all about morality: "[I] will stand up for traditional marriage, the rights of unborn children and freedom of religion . . . not the immoral and anti-religious agenda of liberals and secularists." Greer seems to live in a different district from the rest of us--one where Tammy Baldwin was imposed by subterfuge on an electorate that doesn't believe in one thing she does. But like so much the social conservatives take as gospel, believing don't make it so. Given the demographics of the Wisconsin Second, a guy like him could run against Baldwin 100 times and he'd get beat every time. That's why Magnum, a protege of former Second District Representative Scott Klug, is a much more serious challenger--although my money's still on Tammy, and by about the same margin this time as last time.
This Afternoon on Best of the Blogs: It's a Hell of a Day in the Neighborhood.
Tammy Baldwin's health care speech at the Democratic Convention the other night had the effect of decloaking her challengers. Radio station owner Dave Magnum, one of two Republicans seeking the nomination in the primary (which ain't until September 14, almost absurdly late) says Baldwin is all talk and no action. His idea for cutting health care costs? Limiting the amount that patients can win in medical malpractice suits. Wisconsin Public Radio reported Magnum's claim that "the suits cost the country 23 billion dollars, and reining in trial lawyers will reduce health care costs from five to nine percent." But the Congressional Budget Office reported in January that the cost of lawsuits adds only about two percent to the cost of health care, and the most that we could hope for by reining in such lawsuits would be a savings of less than one-half of one percent. There are other, more effective measures Congress could take--like holding down the cost of prescription drugs--but the story that trial lawyers are to blame for the high cost of health care is as sturdy an urban legend as the one about the guy with the hook in Lover's Lane.
In the same WPR story, Magnum went on record as supporting stem-cell research, which is a plus in his favor. You can bet that this will be a large bone of contention in Magnum's primary race against Ron Greer, if Greer can convince anyone to pay attention to him. Greer lost to Baldwin by nearly 2 to 1 last time. A Baldwin staffer told me in February they'd heard he sent out a fundraising letter to his 2002 supporters gauging their interest in supporting him this time and could only drum up $500--but he decided to make the race anyhow. He's a textbook social conservative, all about morality: "[I] will stand up for traditional marriage, the rights of unborn children and freedom of religion . . . not the immoral and anti-religious agenda of liberals and secularists." Greer seems to live in a different district from the rest of us--one where Tammy Baldwin was imposed by subterfuge on an electorate that doesn't believe in one thing she does. But like so much the social conservatives take as gospel, believing don't make it so. Given the demographics of the Wisconsin Second, a guy like him could run against Baldwin 100 times and he'd get beat every time. That's why Magnum, a protege of former Second District Representative Scott Klug, is a much more serious challenger--although my money's still on Tammy, and by about the same margin this time as last time.
This Afternoon on Best of the Blogs: It's a Hell of a Day in the Neighborhood.
