Furnishedowner,
Since I guess it’s obvious you are not going to provide the numbers from above, as your argument would fall apart…
“Is this a partisan issue in any way?”
All you have to do is look at the current bill from the house to answer this… It not only does not include tort reform, but pushes states AWAY from tort reform… Howard Dean, former DNC chair and Presidential candidate recognized publicly that because the Dem’s are so in the pocket for trial lawyers, that there would be no way they could Dem support for a health bill that included tort reform…
"Also we should be allowed to buy drugs in Canada or from any country with equivalent standards. "
No real argument here, with one exception… the reality that the more drugs bought outside of the US, the LESS American jobs for that industry… but we’ve decimated other parts of our economy doing this to other industries, so why not this one…
“I agree that I trust government more than some of you do.”
I don’t understand why you think this is a good thing… but I think that the case can be made that your answer to all ills in society that have been posted is government, despite their HORRIBLE track record in societal ill solutions…
“I feel government wrongs and excesses tend to self-correct, though it may take years.”
Since you feel this way, can you provide to us an example of the government self-correcting their failures in societal programs on a Macro-scale…
"Companies and industries who enrich their CEOs and stockholders and do not care who has to pay for it"
The same can be said for the government, but the difference is that the government KNOWS who has to pay for it, and they do it WITH OUR MONEY, while BORROWING it to boot, making it harder for EVERYONE…
“There should be a limit to malpractice lawsuits…but what should it be? One Million for amputating the wrong limb? Five million for death by incompetence?”
Tort reform is not only the effect of the monitary awards to individuals (which on average HALF goes to the LAWYERS) but also the effect on defensive medicine - doctors ordering tests they don’t need BECAUSE of the threat of lawsuit. Malpractice insurance becomes prohibitively expensive to feed mostly LAWYERS, so this adds pressure to doctors to practicve the three R’s - Restricting the services they offer, Retiring earler and Relocating - all which adds pressure to their local economy. There’s more, but you get the idea…
So it ADDS ALOT of costs to the system… Ridiculous awards (money the individual would have NEVER made in their lifetime) should be reduced. Their medical costs, if any, should be covered, compensated for lost time at work, proportional damages, and if injury is permanent, income to replace what they would have made in their lifetime to retirement * 1.25.