01
Feb
2005
A quick note to the everyone at the River Cities' Reader. I was shocked to read the articles on the RME issues. (See "River Music Experience's New Direction Dashes Dreams" and "Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes," Issue 513, January 26-February 1, 2005.) I'm proud to see you weren't afraid to take on this issue. I don't get it, either.
Keeping this short before I get in trouble, I now wish all the money spent, and the monies that will be spent, went to the schools in Scott County.
They could have put a nice emphasis on all of the fine arts programs.
What a shame!
Terry Tilka,
Bettendorf
Tort Reform Has a Hollow Ring
President Bush went into "judicial hellhole" country to call for tort reform, which is designed to assure the lowering of medical-malpractice insurance rates. (See "Tort Reform Gets Presidential Boost in Illinois," River Cities' Reader Issue 511, January 12-18, 2005.) Before making this claim, he should have noted what happened in Mississippi, where five counties were listed on the American Tort Reform Association's "judicial hellhole" list.
After tort reform was effected in Mississippi, Dr. Keith Goodfellow said that skyrocketing malpractice rates are forcing him to give up part of the practice he loves. I can't think he is the only Mississippi doctor to find that tort reformers' promises now have a hollow ring.
When Mississippi placed a cap on pain-and-suffering awards, it joined other states that have done so on the "medical malpractice victims' hellhole" list. Medical malpractice creates victims. Then tort reformers seek to make them victims once more by denying them a basic constitutional right: that a jury decides what recompense for their injury is appropriate.
Tort reformers, who surely know better, persist in promoting California as their poster boy. That poster boy didn't have staying power. Note the following: Doctors' premiums increased by 450 percent during the 13 years after medical-liability caps in California were imposed and only declined after voters enacted comprehensive insurance-industry reform and rate regulation of insurance companies, known as Proposition 103.
With appalling insensitivity, tort reformers, most notably the president, add insult to injury by referring to medical-malpractice lawsuits as frivolous. That is outrageous. I am insulted on behalf of people dear to me whose lawsuits were not frivolous.
Obviously, Bush isn't going to stop promoting the myth of tort reform. Legislators in Illinois and in Congress should look beyond rhetoric and support the interests of victims of medical malpractice, not the interests of insurance companies and bad doctors who are the only beneficiaries of tort reform.
Jane Marshall
Clarksville, Tennessee
A Presidential Candidate for 2008
As the next presidential election approaches, I want to propose a potential candidate whom the pundits have ignored: U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. The centrist working mom has championed bread-and-butter issues: farm subsidies, child tax credits, biodiesel fuel advocacy, a "Soldier's Bill of Rights," and legislation to save Americans kidnapped in Saudi Arabia.
In a November 9 address to the DLC, Lincoln outlined a 50-state strategy for earning voters' trust. She highlighted the need to view America as a "living, breathing nation" by illustrating how values relate to education, health care, and national security. Lincoln also emphasized cultural discussion of multiple faiths - not as a political ploy, but to re-focus policy on how one's faith speaks to concerns such as hunger, poverty, children, and senior citizens.
Some Democratic strategists are hesitant about running another U.S. Senator in 2008. But the current list of governors with solid tenure is sparse. Skeptics insist that a woman couldn't possibly be elected president. Yet, if a candidate as controversial as Hillary Clinton is considered a formidable contender for 2008, imagine how effective a woman of substance such as Blanche Lincoln would be in the Oval Office.
I identify as an Independent, and believe that Blanche Lincoln should consider a candidacy in 2008. I am part of a draft committee hoping to convince her to run. Lincoln's moderate, common-sense approach to problem-solving is illuminated by the hard work and good judgment that Americans yearn to see in the White House. We need her.
Tony Eichberger
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Correction
The article "A Christmas for Craig" (River Cities' Reader Issue 507, December 15-21, 2004) incorrectly stated that a charitable organization provided an apartment for Craig Darr. That apartment was paid for by Darr's mother, Laurie Hergert, and father, Dave Darr. The Reader regrets the error.
Keeping this short before I get in trouble, I now wish all the money spent, and the monies that will be spent, went to the schools in Scott County.
They could have put a nice emphasis on all of the fine arts programs.
What a shame!
Terry Tilka,
Bettendorf
Tort Reform Has a Hollow Ring
President Bush went into "judicial hellhole" country to call for tort reform, which is designed to assure the lowering of medical-malpractice insurance rates. (See "Tort Reform Gets Presidential Boost in Illinois," River Cities' Reader Issue 511, January 12-18, 2005.) Before making this claim, he should have noted what happened in Mississippi, where five counties were listed on the American Tort Reform Association's "judicial hellhole" list.
After tort reform was effected in Mississippi, Dr. Keith Goodfellow said that skyrocketing malpractice rates are forcing him to give up part of the practice he loves. I can't think he is the only Mississippi doctor to find that tort reformers' promises now have a hollow ring.
When Mississippi placed a cap on pain-and-suffering awards, it joined other states that have done so on the "medical malpractice victims' hellhole" list. Medical malpractice creates victims. Then tort reformers seek to make them victims once more by denying them a basic constitutional right: that a jury decides what recompense for their injury is appropriate.
Tort reformers, who surely know better, persist in promoting California as their poster boy. That poster boy didn't have staying power. Note the following: Doctors' premiums increased by 450 percent during the 13 years after medical-liability caps in California were imposed and only declined after voters enacted comprehensive insurance-industry reform and rate regulation of insurance companies, known as Proposition 103.
With appalling insensitivity, tort reformers, most notably the president, add insult to injury by referring to medical-malpractice lawsuits as frivolous. That is outrageous. I am insulted on behalf of people dear to me whose lawsuits were not frivolous.
Obviously, Bush isn't going to stop promoting the myth of tort reform. Legislators in Illinois and in Congress should look beyond rhetoric and support the interests of victims of medical malpractice, not the interests of insurance companies and bad doctors who are the only beneficiaries of tort reform.
Jane Marshall
Clarksville, Tennessee
A Presidential Candidate for 2008
As the next presidential election approaches, I want to propose a potential candidate whom the pundits have ignored: U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. The centrist working mom has championed bread-and-butter issues: farm subsidies, child tax credits, biodiesel fuel advocacy, a "Soldier's Bill of Rights," and legislation to save Americans kidnapped in Saudi Arabia.
In a November 9 address to the DLC, Lincoln outlined a 50-state strategy for earning voters' trust. She highlighted the need to view America as a "living, breathing nation" by illustrating how values relate to education, health care, and national security. Lincoln also emphasized cultural discussion of multiple faiths - not as a political ploy, but to re-focus policy on how one's faith speaks to concerns such as hunger, poverty, children, and senior citizens.
Some Democratic strategists are hesitant about running another U.S. Senator in 2008. But the current list of governors with solid tenure is sparse. Skeptics insist that a woman couldn't possibly be elected president. Yet, if a candidate as controversial as Hillary Clinton is considered a formidable contender for 2008, imagine how effective a woman of substance such as Blanche Lincoln would be in the Oval Office.
I identify as an Independent, and believe that Blanche Lincoln should consider a candidacy in 2008. I am part of a draft committee hoping to convince her to run. Lincoln's moderate, common-sense approach to problem-solving is illuminated by the hard work and good judgment that Americans yearn to see in the White House. We need her.
Tony Eichberger
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Correction
The article "A Christmas for Craig" (River Cities' Reader Issue 507, December 15-21, 2004) incorrectly stated that a charitable organization provided an apartment for Craig Darr. That apartment was paid for by Darr's mother, Laurie Hergert, and father, Dave Darr. The Reader regrets the error.
