MIAMI — We hear rumors down here that it is fall and it‘s cold up north, from Pensacola to Jacksonville, especially Tallahassee. Even the lawyers have their hands in their own pockets. Democrat legislator lawyers. The people you keep endorsing and supporting with no scrutiny of their conflicts of interests with yours or the Democratic Party base. (And dare I say a lot of lower and middle income Republicans who are driven away from the Democratic Party because of its elitist special interest elements.) Hands in very briefly though, because last week they quietly smashed a no-fault insurance reform that would have capped their outrageous take from auto accident cases. You know. 30%, often for a few hours work. So as soon as the cold spell snaps their hands will be back, deep in YOUR pockets. Because when an insurance company shells out for inflated lawyer fees they factor it into their rates. You pay. Redistribution of wealth. From you to $200 an hour lawyers, or far more if they can win a big 30% settlement. How much do you make an hour?
Don’t get the wrong idea. There are a lot of good, decent, unselfish lawyers out there. I especially like the ones who fight for civil rights and liberties and to protect the economically weak and children and poor immigrants and won‘t rip you off. All ten of them. But the profession as a whole is, dare we say, greedy? No wonder it ranks near the bottom of all of the professions in public opinion polls for respect. Ahead of car dealers, I think. I’ve got degrees in Political Science. I hung out with all the “pre-law†kids in college because an awful lot of political science majors were heading for law school. And let me tell you, a lot of them were greedy materialists. They didn’t give a fuck about the Law, most of ‘em. They wanted a simple, structured fast-track to getting rich. It was a Republican mentality. And as my awareness has increased over the years, I’ve realized it’s also a Democratic mentality.
So much for the lawyers, for now. They are only a part of a bigger picture here, and that is the pathetic state of politics, and particularly Progressive politics in this state. I didn’t realize it was so bad until I started blogging about it 40 days ago. It’s been like 40 days and nights of rain and flooding. This whole no-fault thing was a fight within a pack of hyenas over who would get how much of the money in the fist of the poor insurance consumer lying on the ground bloodied and helpless. There was virtually NO insurance consumer representation during any of the lobbying, unless you count the Democratic and Republican legislators who were basically refereeing between the insurance companies, agents, hospitals, doctors, chiropractors and medical clinics, and yes, trial lawyers. There was NO consumer group present, except AARP to an extent, that was lobbying on behalf of the people paying for all of this — YOU — and making campaign contributions to the legislators to get their attention. Yet another reason why we need serious campaign finance reform in this state. Posts forthcoming. I have no doubt that we consumers are going to continue paying much more than we need to for auto insurance as a result of these one-sided deliberations.
Just listen to what some people are saying. It‘s shocking: “If we had a bill that was nothing but consumer friendly, we would not have had enough votes to pass it,†said Sen. Bill Posey ( R ). “I didn’t see anybody around here I didn’t recognize,†Sen. J.D. Alexander ( R ) told a reporter as he looked around a committee room filled with dozens of lobbyists. “It tells you something about how this whole issue is driven by economic interests.†Rep. Jack Seiler ( D ) said, “What’s happened here is what we call ‘inside baseball’, and you’ve got every special interest in the world in here but the consumer. And everybody but the consumer is in here trying to get something.â€
And let’s make sure we include all the trial lawyers in the legislature, most of them Democrats, who are actually voting on matters affecting parts of their profession. I mean, how many doctors, insurance and hospital people are in the legislature? THEY SHOULD ALL HAVE RECUSED THEMSELVES FROM VOTING ON THIS ISSUE. Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff ( R ) says the House may still try to cap legal fees next year. Contact her so you can support her efforts. (Can you believe I’m urging you Progressives to align yourselves with a Republican on this one! ) Tomorrow, part II, what the legislature passed and how it compares to my Progressive proposal of two weeks ago.
