Any Rethug is a case study in selfish/greedy hypocrisy: Take Greg ABBOTT ( -- PLEASE!1)

So, ABBOTT was FOR suing for millions over “nonmedical injuries” (pain, suffering, mental anguish) before he was AGAINST it (cracking down on “lawsuit abuse” and large settlements like what HE got: “Tort reform”) for everybody ELSE after he got HIS.

That is essentially the difference between the parties: As Sen. Tom HARKIN said at his retirement party last week, the Democratic way is to climb the ladder AND leave the ladder in place for others, NOT the Rethug way of pulling the ladder UP after them. This covers a variety of issues, such as immigration.

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http://www.texastribune.org/2013/08/04/candidate-faces-questions-turnabout-and-fair-play/

[font size=5]Abbott Faces Questions On Turnabout and Fair Play[/font]
by Jay Root Aug. 4, 2013

When Greg Abbott’s spine was crushed by a falling oak tree in [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]1984[/FONT] he had no health insurance, no paycheck and no feeling in his legs. .... ...[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]he sued[/FONT].

The parties reached a settlement in 1986, the details of which Abbott discussed for the first time last week. The proceeds were paid by the defendants' insurance companies. Under the agreement, Abbott receives periodic lump sum payments plus monthly income. By the end of this year, he will have received about [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]$5.8 million and is entitled to monthly income[/FONT] from the settlement until he dies. ....

Not long after Abbott’s accident, sentiment against trial lawyers and large jury verdicts swept through Texas politics, which helped propel Republicans into dominance and laid the groundwork for new lawsuit restrictions.

In [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]1995, the Legislature capped punitive damages[/FONT] stemming from noneconomic losses at $750,000. Lawmakers also [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]erected hurdles[/FONT] for plaintiffs who try to collect from multiple defendants.

Meanwhile, the conservative [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]Texas Supreme Court, on which Abbott served from 1996 to 2001, began adopting tighter standards for losses[/FONT] that involved pain and suffering and mental anguish.

Then in [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]2003, the Legislature capped noneconomic damages[/FONT] in medical malpractice cases at $250,000, a move that Abbott supported. That means when the medical equivalent of a freak tree accident happens in an emergency room today, people who sue the doctors face a limit on the amount of noneconomic damages they can receive. That limit is frozen in statute at $250,000 and does not have any built-in increases for the rising cost of living. Nuances in the law can lead to higher awards in wrongful death cases or when more than one health care institution is involved.

“Today that would be an extraordinarily high recovery,” Silver said. “[FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]It would be harder to get that type of award today[/FONT].”

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