: Debate Begins on Asbestos Bailout Bill--call your Senators NOW

[rodeodance]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Debate Begins on Asbestos Bailout Bill
Date: Mon, 06 Feb 2006 13:49:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Kristin Keckeisen <[email protected]>
To: xxxxxxxxx


Dear xxxx,

Today, Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) will bring to the floor an asbestos bill that is just another special-interest bailout- this one for the corporations that knowingly poisoned hundreds of thousands of Americans.

The asbestos companies put people at risk, even long after they knew that asbestos caused cancer and other diseases. They knowingly poisoned people and covered it up. Now, they've come to Congress looking for a bailout that would leave some victims without enough money to cover their medical costs and could potentially leave the American taxpayers with as much as a hundred-billion-dollar tab.

Tell Congress to oppose the Asbestos Bailout Bill

As a result, people like Charles Sales, 23, of Hot Springs, AR, suffer with mesothelioma, an always fatal cancer caused only by asbestos. A non-smoker and in excellent health before his diagnosis, Charles and his wife, who have a two year-old daughter, planned on expanding their family. His wife will soon be a widow though, as most victims don't live longer than twelve months after their diagnosis.

Charles' father and grandfather, employed at the lumber mill where he would eventually work, carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing, exposing young Charles to the deadly product. Read about other asbestos victims

Tell Congress to oppose the Asbestos Bailout Bill

Before being diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer, Sandy Linden of Omaha, NE was an active, athletic mother of five; she had even taken part in a marathon. Now, she spends her time traveling between Omaha and Chicago for CT scans, surgery, and chemotherapy treatments.

Since her mesothlioma diagnosis, Sandy has had her diaphragm, a lung, and two ribs removed. She can only sleep on one side of her body because of the pain, and the entire left side of her chest and breast are numb. At times she feels that she is suffocating from the Gore-Tex that replaced the sac around her heart and lung. She can no longer work and is unable to secure long-term care. Read about other asbestos victims

Tell Congress to oppose the Asbestos Bailout Bill

Facts about the Asbestos Bailout Bill

The asbestos companies kept putting people at risk for thirty years after they learned that asbestos caused cancer and other diseases. They knowingly poisoned people and covered it up.

The bill creates new obstacles and delays for victims, designed to protect asbestos companies. Under this bill, many asbestos victims will die of their disease before receiving compensation.

Most studies show that the actual cost of compensating asbestos victims over the next thirty years will be at least one hundred billion dollars more than the size of the trust fund created by this bill.

The last thing we can afford is a bill that gives a hundred-billion-dollar handout to big asbestos companies. Corporations should pay the cost of the illnesses they caused, not taxpayers.

The asbestos bailout bill allows big asbestos companies to pay only twenty-five percent of the real cost of compensating their victims, so it's no surprise these companies support this bill. Please tell Congress to oppose the asbestos trust fund, a trust fund victims can't trust.

Learn More About the Asbestos Bailout Bill

Then Tell a Friend about this blatant corporate bailout

Sincerely,

Kristin Keckeisen
Campaign Manager, People Over Profits

[Craig3410]

1. K&R...

though why should I bother doing anything? I'm in Arkansas; home of Pryor and Lincoln; this bill could possibly, in some way, hurt Wal-Mart, so they're not supporting it.

[Lady President]

2. I support the bill

I know this will put me in the minority here, but I support the Bill. I think this letter is a far too simplistic view of a very complicated issue. I found this part especially interesting: "The last thing we can afford is a bill that gives a hundred-billion-dollar handout to big asbestos companies. Corporations should pay the cost of the illnesses they caused, not taxpayers." Is the author aware that most of the major asbestos producers have long ago folded? The smaller producers cannot begin to pay $100B.

I worked in the legal department of a company that was a relatively small producer of asbestos. Because many of the former producers were out-of-business, our company was left with the bill. By the late 1990s there were 60,000 bankers boxes of claims that had been settled. The end result? The company declared bankruptcy, hundreds of us lost our jobs, and claims no longer were paid. Claimants would have been much better off filing with the government. Also, regardless of the mechanism in place, most claimants will die prior to receiving their settlements-- the obstacles are always present and the diseases are often fast moving.

Finally, the author seems to have overlooked that our government forced the use of asbestos related products. Although deadly, asbestos insulation saves money. For example, for decades after knowing the dangers, the government required that Naval vessels use asbestos insulated pipes in all the heating and duct work. Some of the highest concentrations of asbestos ever found was in the Naval shipyards in California. The government has always managed to duck their responsibility on this issue.

I think the bottom line is the Asbestos Bailout Bill is better than nothing. Currently, most claimants get nothing or close to nothing.