by Kerry Thomas
January 6, 2006
Thanks to Governor Jim Doyle, children in Wisconsin are
finally safe from the dangers posed by lead paint manufacturers, even though lead
paint hasn’t been manufactured in the United States for more than 25 years.
Amid much fanfare, Governor Doyle vetoed Senate Bill 402,
surprise, on yet another Friday afternoon.
If you believe his press release, Governor Doyle vetoed the legislation
as part of his “Kids First” agenda, to protect children from the dangers of the
world.
SB 402 was the
Legislature's response to Thomas
v. Mallett (2003AP1528) the 2005 Wisconsin Supreme
Court decision that allowed those poisoned by lead paint to bring legal action
against paint manufacturers.
SB 402
provided that “a manufacturer, distributor, seller, or promoter of a product
generally may be held liable for damages only if the injured party proves,
in addition to the causation, damages, and other elements of the claim, that
the specific product that caused the injury was manufactured, distributed,
sold, or promoted by the defendant.”
Many of today’s paint
manufacturers never made lead paint in the first place. Those that did came to the realization years
ago that it was a harmful substance. The paint industry voluntarily stopped
using white lead carbonate as an ingredient long before any
government agency came to the same realization.
By
vetoing this legislation, Governor Doyle is telling the trial lawyers across
America to flock to Wisconsin to file their lawsuits against paint
manufacturers. And against anyone
involved in a business where a product may be found to cause harm, even if it
isn’t specifically your product that actually caused the harm.
But
that should come as no surprise. Jim
Doyle loves big class action lawsuits.
Half the time it looks like he still thinks he’s Attorney General. And you’d have to look long and hard to find
an instance where Governor Doyle signed anything into law that went against the
wishes of his biggest campaign contributors - trial lawyers, teachers unions
and the Tribes.
It’s ironic that Governor Doyle held this veto ceremony the
day after announcing his ethics in government proposal. Governor Doyle is almost single-handedly
putting Chicago in the #2 position on the list of corrupt governments in
America.
I guess Governor Doyle lives by the principle “Do as I say,
not as I do.” What an example to follow
if he wants to put “Kids First.”
According to his press release, this proposal “includes programs to
educate parents about the dangers of lead poisoning.”
Let me help save the taxpayers of Wisconsin a few bucks.
Parents. Don’t let
your kids eat lead paint. It’s dangerous.
There. Message
conveyed. Come to think of it, in an
attempt to help prevent injuries before they happen, and to help head off the
trial lawyer stampede, here are a few more public service messages to the
parents who otherwise could not possibly figure these things out for
themselves:
Even though gasoline no longer contains lead additives, it’s
still not very healthy to drink, even with the blending of ethanol distilled
from corn. So don’t drink gasoline.
Generally, items purchased in a hardware store are not meant
for human consumption. Don’t eat nails
or screws.
Oil makes for a good automobile lubricant. It doesn’t work as well when ingested. Same with WD-40.
We already know lead paint shouldn’t be eaten from
walls. But neither should drywall or
wallpaper. No eating..
And remember, don’t eat yellow snow.
I’m sure there are other warnings we need to give to stupid
parents, but if I listed them all here, on what would Governor Doyle spend all
our “Kids First” money?
Here’s a thought.
How about if we let parents keep a little more of their own money, and
decide for themselves what’s best “for the children” in their families.