Judiciary chair says committee on track to introduce medical liability reform next week
The Judiciary Committee is set to produce and introduce legislation as early as next week that will add toward the sum total of replacing the Democrat’s healthcare legislation, Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) told The Hill on Thursday.
“As of now we are on track to introduce a bill next week,” Smith said of his committee’s efforts to reform health liability. “We are waiting now, frankly, for a couple more endorsements for that bill. But as soon we get those, we could introduce the bill as soon as next week.”
The chairman’s comments came after Democrats publicly questioned the Republican’s will and timeline for creating legislation that would replace the legislation.
Earlier in the day, for example, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) promised he would eat the House rostrum if Republicans kept their promise to replace the bill.
And Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) questioned why the Republicans had decided to repeal before a replacement was prepared.
Meanwhile, in an interview with The Hill earlier in the day, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) described a piecemeal approach some Republican’s are pursuing toward replacing the bill.
“I don’t want to see a large comprehensive replacement bill,” said King. “I want to see it come in individual standalone pieces of legislation that are very short, very compact, easy to understand and can be debated here on the floor so that the American people can see all the things we are doing to reform healthcare.”
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January 20, 2011 at 4:49 pm
House Judiciary Hearing Puts Medical Liability Reform Back in the Spotlight | personal injury lawyers
[…] ObamaCare Replacement Ideas Will Include Tort Reform « Just … […]
January 20, 2011 at 7:38 pm
gumply
Tort reform is a must and if it isn’t in there then it is all a farce. Lets see what happens. I have to be honest I am not sure it is going to go anywhere. I have lived through to much corruption for to many years. At least half of my life and it just gets worse every year.
January 21, 2011 at 4:08 pm
gumply
James, I didn’t know where to put this but I couldn’t pass it up!
God vs Science
‘Let me explain the problem science has with religion.’ The atheist professor
of philosophy pauses before his class
And then asks one of his new students to stand.
‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’
‘Yes sir,’ the student says.
‘So you believe in God?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Is God good?’
‘Sure! God’s good.’
‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’
‘Yes’
‘Are you good or evil?’
‘The Bible says I am evil.’
The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment.
‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can
cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’
‘Yes sir, I would.’
‘So you’re good…!’
‘I wouldn’t say that’
‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most
of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he?
My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus
to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?’
The student remains silent.
‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a
glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’
‘Er..yes,’ the student says.
‘Is Satan good?’
The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’
‘Then where does Satan come from?’
The student falters. ‘From God’
‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this
world?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’
‘Yes’
‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything,
then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that
our works define who we are, then God is evil.’
Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred?
Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?’
The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’
‘So who created them?’
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who
created them?’ There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to
pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell me,’ he
continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’
The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’
The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to
identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’
‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’
‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’
‘No, sir, I have not.’
‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have
you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’
‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’
‘Yet you still believe in him?’
‘Yes’
‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science
says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?’
‘Nothing,’ the student replies. ‘I only have my faith.’
‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with
God. There is no evidence, only faith.’
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own.
‘Professor, is there such thing as heat?’
‘ yes.
‘And is there such a thing as cold?’
‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’
‘No sir, there isn’t.’
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room
suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. ‘You can have lots
of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a
little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit
up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further
after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go
colder than the lowest -458 degrees.’
‘Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy,
and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero
(-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we
use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can
measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of
heat, sir, just the absence of it.’
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like
a hammer.
‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’
‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t
darkness?’
‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of
something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light,
but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness,
isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word.’
‘In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness
darker, wouldn’t you?’
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a
good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’
‘Yes, professor My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start
with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’
The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can you
explain how?’
‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue
that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are
viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir,
science can’t even explain a thought.’
‘It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully
understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant
of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the
opposite of life, just the absence of it.’
‘Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a
monkey?’
‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of
course I do.’
‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where
the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot
even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching
your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has
subsided.
‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me
give you an example of what I mean.’
The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever
seen the professor’s brain?’ The class breaks out into laughter.
‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the
professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to
have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable,
demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due
respect, sir.’
‘So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lecture s, sir?’
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face
unreadable.
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess you’ll
have to take them on faith.’
‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’
the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’
Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it
everyday It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the
multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations
are nothing else but evil.’
To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not
exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not
have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there
is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’
The professor sat down.
P.S.: the student was Albert Einstein
“Surround yourself with people most like the person you want to become. Stay away from anyone who can or will bring you down.”
January 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm
Interested Bystander
Hey All,
It is my opinion that we should repeal and NOT replace.
I believe that TORT reform should be a “stand alone” issue.
Does anyone remember the old lady who spilled coffee on her lap, and sued the place she bought it from because it was hot?
She actually won, and that’s why we have those warnings on the cups now.
It’s simply unbelievable to me.
January 22, 2011 at 4:20 pm
gumply
IB
I remember only to well she bought the cup of coffee on her way to work from McDonald’s. They handed her the cup of coffee through the drive through and put it between her legs and drove off. What did she think was going to happen. She is a bonafide fruit loop.
It is our society our culture, everyone wants something for nothing and we are sue crazy and we the people who sit on those juries should get a life. McDonalds was not responsible for the coffee spilling on her and burning her and everyone knows that. That is the same thing as McDonalds is to blame for these obese people walking into their restaurant and ordering each member of their family two big mac meals and then saying McDonalds made them obese. What are we nuts.
No one is to blame for anything anymore we all have liberalitis. Poor me I don’t know how to use my brains so lets sue everyone. Where is my obama money. Remember that whacko. Father please forgive us we are all out to lunch, permanently!
January 6, 2012 at 12:09 pm
SilverKait
Actually about the coffee … I read a report of the incident way back when (so I could be mistaken) but as I recall the coffee was hot enough to cause third degree burns in about 5 seconds … much too hot for a drive through. Hotter than I allow my own hot water to get. It was not a frivolous lawsuit if that is the case.
Torte reform yes, of course. But if my memory is correct about this particular incident, perhaps a different example should be used.