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| John Edwards: A Workingman's Nightmare |
| 2004-07-29 |
| Some "Taxes" are invisible, hidden in the higher prices of things we buy. One such "tax" is huge, costing the average American family of four at least $2,884 every year in the higher price tags of everything from hamburger to health care. This government-imposed burden is higher in America than in any other industrialized nation on Earth. Call it the "Lawsuit Tax," the huge cost that lawsuits and the threat of lawsuits adds to everything. One member of Congress has done more to increase this secret tax on Americans than has any other lawmaker. John Edwards is a Democratic U.S. Senator from North Carolina, elected to his first and only term in 1998 with massive financial backing from his fellow trial lawyers. Edwards was picked by 2004 Democratic candidate Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts to be his vice presidential running mate. If Kerry and Edwards are elected on November 2, this invisible "Lawsuit Tax" on American consumers will likely skyrocket as the trial lawyers who now own the Democratic Party and its candidates take control of the entire Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. ...After moving to Raleigh in 1981, Edwards became a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer, eventually specializing in cerebral palsy patient lawsuits that blamed their mothers' doctors for causing this medical condition by waiting too long before performing caesarian sections to give birth to his clients. In one famous case Edwards swayed a jury and won a multimillion-dollar judgment by dramatically playing the part of the unborn child struggling in the womb. Because of the courtroom success of Edwards and trial lawyers who have imitated him, doctors who used to perform caesarian sections in six percent of births now deliver 26 percent of babies by C-section. The procedure adds enormously to the expense of delivering a baby, as well as to prolonged healing, pain and injury to mothers. And as ABC "20/20" anchorman John Stossel reported, the old rate of cerebral palsy among children has not declined in the slightest. This suggests that Edwards built his entire career and $70 million fortune on a wrong assertion, perhaps even a lie. The failure to do caesarian births apparently never was a cause of cerebral palsy; had it been, its incidence would have declined measurably as caesarian births jumped more than fourfold. |
| Posted by:rex |
| #7 I wonder if any attack on Edwards would work anyway. After all, he got his millions by convincing people that anything bad that happens to someone is the fault of a large corporation with lots of money. How many people are susceptible to "evil large corporations are out to screw us, so let's screw them right back?" |
| Posted by: jackal 2004-07-29 11:39:42 PM |
| #6 I do hope the Republicans use this to great advantage in the next few months. If played to kill, exploiting Edwards' ugly truths could surely devastate the Dem ticket I hope so, too, BullDog. But unfortunately the Republicans don't seem to have that go for the jugular, killer instinct that the 'Rats have perfected to an art. Most of the current batch of republican politicians[exemplified by GOP Senator Majority Leader, Bill Frist, himself an MD] act like the stereo-type of the party...ie. nice morally upstanding middle class gentlemen in checked golf pants and Polo shirts. I think the Pubies need to spend a think tank weekend with Arnold the Governator and get some of his no-holds barred "girlie men" attack words and mano a mano confidence before doing a press conference. Currently, following GWB's and Frist's lead, the Pubie's are much too gentlemanly ie. hopeless against the 'Rats. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-07-29 8:39:33 PM |
| #5 I wonder what Patrick Henry would say about the current crop of weeds that populate his former field. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-07-29 8:38:40 PM |
| #4 Thanks for the link, rex. I agree Edwards is slick, boyishly charming, a real smooth talker. A nd a complete fraud. His professional life is tremendously parasitic, greedy, predatory, amoral and self-serving. I do hope the Republicans use this to great advantage in the next few months. If played to kill, exploiting Edwards' ugly truths could surely devastate the Dem ticket. Run ads featuring medical professionals who've been devastated by Edwards' deceitful lawsuits, for instance. No need to worry about making the campaign personal - for most of the American left it's been personal since 2000. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-29 8:05:20 PM |
| #3 Bulldog, I believe that John Edwards is truly more dangerous to America than Kerry. Edwards is the Prince of Darkness waiting in the wings to move into the WH in 2008. This guy is slick and he has that innocent all American boyish look, that would entise a bird out of a tree into a birdcage in 2 winks. For further information on Edwards and his backers-trial lawyers-check out Manhattan Institute's website devoted to the US litigation system: www.PointofLaw.com John Edwards' name appears every couple of entries. Did you know for example that 76% of US obstreticians have been sued at one time or another? Would that be viewed as a "normal" statistic in any other nation except in America, where the Trial Lawyers Association has such strong influence??? Edwards himself used junk science to win the cerebral palsy case, pure and simple. This guy is a pathetic joke in terms of his marketing as serving the "little guy." I read an article a couple of days ago that did research on Edwards, discovering in the course of investigation that he never donated one pro bono hour of time to help poor people since he went into private practice. I rest my case. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-07-29 7:50:47 PM |
| #2 Let's not forget all the suits he helped bring against Big Tobacco, helping to put thousands of tobacco farmers in his home state out of work. Whatta guy. |
| Posted by: GreatestJeneration 2004-07-29 7:33:03 PM |
| #1 This suggests that Edwards built his entire career and $70 million fortune on a wrong assertion, perhaps even a lie. How does this scum sleep at night?! Seriously. Edwards is corruption. UK TV (Channel 4 News) tonight was repeating the lie that Edwards came from a 'poor' millworking family. What a sleazeball. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-07-29 7:24:13 PM |