Jackson Free Press

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Green Party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader came to town June 16, sounding more like his old ball-busting, consumer-advocate self than a man trying to upset the presidential apple cart.

Starting his speech in the big room at Hal & Mal's, Nader launched an attack on Gov. Haley Barbour's tort-reform coup in the special legislative session in which the House finally delivered him dramatic damage caps, despite a dearth of evidence that the reforms will help actual Mississippians.

"The Legislature cut the heart out of the rights of these injured and sick Mississippians," Nader said, "without demonstrating to the people of Mississippi that courts were either incompetent, unable or unwilling to provide justice. They didn't meet that standard of proof because they're too interested in responding to their paymasters, to the guys who are writing checks for their sleazy campaigns and sleazy gubernatorial regime of Haley Barbour."

Nader pointed out that if a Mississippi infant is now severely injured by a doctor of a company operating here, that a brain-damaged baby's life is worth very little. "There is no wage loss," he said.

"No matter how serious and outrageous the negligent and criminal behavior that caused these injuries are, those who are injured for medical practice can get no more than a half a million dollars for a lifetime of pain and suffering," he said.

Nader directly addressed industry scare tactics about greedy plaintiffs and "liberal" judges: "Eighty percent of the judges in this state were formerly business lawyers. They don't read Karl Marx on their lunch break," he said to laughter.

Research gathered by his consumer-advocacy group (publiccitizen.org) shows that twice as many Mississippians are killed because of medical malpractice every year than on the highways, and a full 80,000 Americans die in hospitals every year due to malpractice, he said—more than from AIDS, fires and highway deaths combined, he said. Medical malpractice is a "serious epidemic of preventable violence we're dealing with," he said, adding that the way to reduce malpractice (and pay-outs) is to ensure that bad doctors and companies must pay for their mistakes and, thus, discourage them. Only 5 percent of doctors perform more than half of the 80,000 cases of medical malpractice. "The medical profession is not policing bad doctors," he said, adding that only one in 10 victims of medical malpractice victims even file claims.

Nader challenged Mississippians to demand actual evidence : "How many times have you heard Haley Barbour talk about 'frivolous lawsuits'?" he asked, adding that consumers must talk back and say: "You are recklessly saying 'frivolous lawsuits' unless you can justify it.'" To date, Barbour has provided no data proving actual "lawsuit abuse" in the state—or evidence that damage caps will either lower insurance rates or create new jobs in Mississippi. His office did not respond to the JFP's request for back-up data, referring us instead to a pro-tort-reform lobbying group.

In an interview, Nader applauded efforts by some legislators to bring insurance reform—a consumer movement strong in some other states including California—to the table in Mississippi, despite heavy ridicule from corporate media and Barbour backers. "Insurance is traditionally regulated," he said. "Insurance companies impeach themselves because they make no effort to weed out bad doctors." Nader told the JFP that it is simply a lie that the court system is "out of control": "They are deceiving (the people)," he said. "If I debated Haley Barbour tonight on this issue, if I didn't beat him 2-to-1, I'd concede."

Corporations, Nader said, and their candidates have left Americans with a "sense of powerlessness." But that can be overcome, he argued: "We can no longer make excuses for how we don't have time. There's too much at stake for Americans, for our descendants, to constantly allow two parties to tell us that they own us."

Mississippi is a good place to start turning the tide, he said, adding that the Democrats have abandoned the state, just assuming that it will go for Republican candidates like Bush and Barbour in future elections. "When you abandon a state like Mississippi, that means there's a vacuum; a vacuum means there's an opportunity; and the opportunity is why we're here," he said.

The first step, he said, is more person-to-person conversation and an honest look at history. "We've got to get this job done, if only to be able to look in the eyes of our grandchildren … when they ask, 'What were you doing when all this happened?' You don't want to say you were watching a third re-run of 'Friends,'" he said.

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ID

64162

Comment

No desperation here, eh? wo conservative groups have been phoning people around Oregon this week, urging them to attend Ralph Nader's convention Saturday in hopes of putting Nader's name on Oregon's presidential ballot. The groups make no bones about their goal -- to draw votes away from Democrat John Kerry and help President Bush win this battleground state in November. "We disagree with Ralph Nader's politics, but we'd love to see him make the ballot,'' said Russ Walker of Citizens for a Sound Economy, a group best known for its opposition to tax increases. http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/06/25/nadar/index.html

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-06-25T12:53:17-06:00

ID

64163

Comment

Green Party Refuses to Back Nader for President Sat Jun 26, 5:25 PM ET By John Rondy MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Reuters) - The Green Party on Saturday refused to back Ralph Nader (news - web sites) in his independent run for the White House, a move that could reduce his chances of being a factor in this year's election. Delegates to the half-million-member party's presidential convention voted to nominate party activist David Cobb, a California lawyer who led the delegate count going into the meeting. On the second round of voting, Cobb captured 408 delegates, more than the 385 needed to gain the nomination. "What you have here before you are working class people who have demonstrated that it is possible to build a political party on principles and values -- without corporate money and without selling out," he told a lively crowd after he won the nomination. "Ralph Nader has had more influence on my life than anyone who is not a direct relative. I am a lawyer because of Ralph Nader. Without Ralph Nader, this nomination wouldn't have happened," Cobb added. Nader had not sought the party's nomination but said he would have accepted either that or an endorsement as a possible route to getting on the ballot in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The party earned those ballot positions as a result of its showing in 2000 when Nader headed its ticket. The consumer rights advocate just days ago chose veteran Green Party politician Peter Camejo (news - web sites) as his vice presidential running mate in an attempt to attract support from the party. As an independent, Nader has been trying to consolidate support from third parties as well as disaffected Democrats and Republicans. He had already been endorsed by the Reform Party, giving him potential access to ballots in seven states where it won access. Losing the Green Party's support could make it all the more difficult for him to get on the ballot in every state. He has been trying to round up signatures in as many states as possible and Democrats have indicated they will scrutinize those efforts and challenge them when validity questions arise. In choosing Cobb, the Greens picked a candidate who spent the last eight years visiting 40 states, working at the grass-roots level to build ties between environmental and labor movements. As the Green candidate in 2000, Nader drew 2.7 percent of the popular vote, but Democrats saw him as a spoiler who sapped strength from former Vice President (news - web sites) Al Gore (news - web sites) in battleground states, including Florida, where Nader drew 97,488 votes. Gore won the popular vote nationally but lost the weighted electoral college vote -- and the election -- to President Bush (news - web sites), losing Florida by 537 contested votes.

Author

herman

Date

2004-06-27T02:38:09-06:00