LETTERS
Frivolous Lawsuits
Thousands of small businesses (auto dealers and repair shops, nail salons, restaurants and many others) across the state have been burdened by frivolous 17200 claims from private fee-seeking lawyers.
After years of seeking sensible and responsible reform to end these abusive lawsuits, only to be turned away by a Legislature dominated by the personal injury lawyers and their huge campaign budgets, California’s business community is left with only one alternative,taking the issue directly to the voters via an initiative.
Californians to Stop Shakedown Lawsuits, a broad-based coalition of business organizations, taxpayers groups, consumers and large and small companies from across the state, recently filed an initiative for the November 2004 ballot that would end the shakedown lawsuit mill but still allow individuals who have suffered harm to file suit.
California’s Business and Professions Code Section 17200 contains a loophole allowing predatory personal injury lawyers to act like a district attorney or the attorney general.
No other state allows private lawyers to make fortunes by filing suits against businesses on behalf of the general public, even when no one has been misled or damaged and they don’t even have a client!
The initiative supported by Californians to Stop Shakedown Lawsuits is a common sense approach that will close the shakedown lawsuit loophole.
More information on the initiative and the campaign can be found at www.stopshakedownlawsuits.com.
John H. Sullivan, David Padilla
(Sullivan is president of the Civil Justice Association of California, Sacramento; Padilla is president of net media strategies, Costa Mesa.)
Housing Shortage
California is short one million homes. There can only be two explanations for this shortage:
One, California homebuilders are so unambitious that all of us have decided that building these homes for our eager customers would be just too much trouble.
Instead, how about a reason that makes sense: State laws allow state and local governments to stop us from building all the homes our customers want.
There can be no California rebirth without a rebirth of housing. There is no recovery without new housing policies that remove the impenetrable layers of regulations that are strangling this state.
Do the math: One million homes at $400,000 each would create billions of dollars worth of new activity. Then put a multiplier on that to measure what would happen as the money spreads around. It adds up to a trillion dollars in a hurry.
Then start taking the same attitude to workers compensation, new regulations, new taxes and fees, for other California industries from fishing to furniture, and people will get the message that California is ready for business and innovation and enterprise and new jobs, once again.
Michael Pattinson
President, Barratt American
Carlsbad
LETTERS LITE
From: Howard Dean supporters
Themes: I believe that America has not for 40 years seen an executive for the White House with as much integrity and commitment as Howard Dean The media’s coverage of Dean’s concession speech at the Iowa Caucuses was disgustingly unbalanced and downright idiotic The more people get to know about Howard Dean, the more they like him as a candidate and as a person After the smear campaign the media launched on Dean last week, I think someone in the media should report on the very important fact that Dean has more delegates than each of the other candidates John Kerry simply will not withstand Bush’s blows in the ring.
From: University of California, Irvine students
Themes: I have time and time again experienced the frustration and dents in my pocket of the astronomical prices of textbooks. This quarter alone I spent $400 on four classes The campus bookstore should be sympathetic to its students, not ravenously tearing their wallets to shreds! We already have a raise in our tuitions.
