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:: 10.06.2004 ::
VP debate fact-check
An AP article, found on the Fox News website.
What did you think of the debate?
Followup
Here's a better post-debate fact-checker [link fixed] that contrasts Cheney's barrage of outright lies with Edwards' occasional and slight distortions. FactCheck.org, which Cheney mentioned during the debate (tho he got the suffix wrong), does the same.
And on the whole tort reform issue, MoJo had a great article in this month's magazine. As for the broader "lawsuit crisis," a report from the nonprofit National Center for State Courts found that tort filings have been falling steadily over the past decade, dropping by 9 percent between 1992 and 2002. In Texas, the rate of tort filings fell by 37 percent between 1990 and 2000; in California, it plummeted 45 percent. What's more, plaintiffs lose about half the time they go to trial in state courts, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics; in medical malpractice cases, doctors win almost three-quarters of the time.
When plaintiffs do win, the "jackpot" is getting smaller all the time. New data released in April by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that in jury trials in state courts, the median award fell by almost half during the 1990s -- from $65,000 to $37,000. Punitive damages, the tort reform campaign's top target, were awarded in only 6 percent of all jury trials in 2001, and the median award was $50,000. The guy who started it all? Our friend Karl Rove, who in 1994 encouraged Bush to use tort reform as a top campaign issue in his first race for governor of Texas. As a result, Rove told the Washington Post, "Business groups flocked to us;" the strategy has continued to benefit Bush up thru the current campaign.
:: Deb 10:02 AM :: permalink ::
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