Oklahoman Tort Reform Article

About this time of year, the Daily Disappointment, aka The Oklahoman begans issuing editorials as instructed by their bosses at the State Chamber. If you think I’m kidding about who Ed Kelly’s bosses are, I’m not, he does the Chamber’s bidding. Now in their titled “Aces Low: Trial Lawyers Overplay Their Hand,” the Oklahoman editorial staff in only what can be called a propaganda scheme that Goebbels himself would be proud of, goes into a diatribe about two supposed national Plaintiff’s lawyers who were found guilty of crimes. He then somehow parlays that into a discussion on the tort tax.

Here is a sample of this shameful bit of reporting: “The joker’s on us in this tale of high crimes and misdealings. According to one admittedly biased source, the tort system costs the U.S. economy $865 billion per year, for an annual “tort tax” of $9,827 for a family of four. Even at just one-fourth that listed amount, we’re being dunned $615 apiece per year to support the lavish lifestyles of Scruggs, Weiss and a full deck of other usual suspects.

Before he antes up further resistance to reasonable tort reform in Oklahoma, Gov. Brad Henry ought to consider that the real beneficiaries of the tort tax aren’t the little people he seeks to protect from damage caps but the Dickie Scruggs of the world.”

Now here is my response!

Tell me why the Oklahoman decides to cite two non-Oklahoman lawyers for their crimes as a basis to justify tort reform to Governor Henry. Somehow they lump all of us good, Christian, hard working men and women in with two lawyers who committed crimes. Then the last paragraph links us to Eliot Spitzer and his prostitution problem.

What kind of propaganda is being spewed by this rag? How can the Oklahoman justify comparing me and my friends, who work hard to gain access to the Courthouse for our clients, have families and children, serve in many civic and philanthropic capacities to two attorneys who committed crimes?

In stark contrast you hear no echos of Worldcom, Enron, Pharmaceuticals, Ford Pintos et al. that trials lawyers throughout the years have gone up against to make this world a little safer for all us. You hear nothing of their groups malfeasence. Neither do you hear anything from doctors who cut the wrong limb off, operated while doing narcotics et al.

See the Oklahoman is unequivally biased in their reporting on this subject. They speak of a tort tax and in the same breadth admit it comes from a bias source. How can you justify your position on a subject on a biased source. You not they didn’t anything in their paper when the American Medical Association ranked Oklahoma as one of the top 5 doctor friendly states in the U.S.