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Written by Maryann Marino
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 11:47 |
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Very early one Sunday morning before the June primary election, I left the house with a purpose – I was going to place our CALA yard signs among the hundreds of candidate signs lining the streets of a busy thoroughfare between Newport Beach and Irvine. We had less than a dozen signs to place in between the many signs for candidates running for assembly, judge and U.S. Senate, but I thought it was worth getting the word out that “California Needs More Jobs, Not More Lawsuits.” Now, here we are, nearly seven weeks after the June primary and only one yard sign is still standing - CALA's. Even the city workers who mow the lawn take great care in not moving our sign and mow around it to keep it intact. Could it be a sign of the times? The economy is down. Businesses are closing and people are losing their jobs. The small yard sign screams a message loud and clear – “California Needs More Jobs, Not More Lawsuits.” I continue to receive e-mails and calls from people who see our sign and agree. Have you seen our sign?
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Written by Tom Scott, Executive Director
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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 00:00 |
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I am certainly not a role model for eating habits. Believe me I will jump at an Entenmann's donut any day of the week over a salad, but you will not see me sue Entenmann's. I guess I should have seen it coming. First the County Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara banned McDonald's from putting toys in its Happy Meals. Now comes the Center for Science in the Public Interest sending a letter of intent to sue McDonald's if the toys are not removed from all Happy Meals.
Stephen Gardner, the center's litigation director said "McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing candy out to children." Are you kidding me? He also went on to say that McDonald's is undercutting parental authority. Really? So these fast food giants are just coming along and jamming Happy Meals down these kids throats behind their parents' backs.
Look there is a serious obesity problem in this nation, but do not blame the fast food companies. All of us have lessons to learn in personal responsibility. Unfortunately, what’s being taught are not the right lessons. We’re getting taught that if you’re fat, blame the fast food restaurants that “forced” you to gobble calorie-rich burgers and fries, if you’re benched in a crucial game, blame your coach or school, if you fall in a supermarket, blame the store, and so on. Basically, we’re being told “it’s not your fault – sue them all.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS), fast food may not even be the cause of most teen weight problems. As it turns out, the couch potato phenomenon doesn’t just apply to adults. Data from DHS shows only 20 percent of high school students are engaged in moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day.
Reforms will help, but the problems with our out-of-control legal system will not be resolved until we reform our way of thinking. We must teach our children – by word and deed – that if you don’t eat right or exercise it’s your fault and nobody elses. We must all change our way of thinking – stop blaming others and accept responsibility for our actions. That’s the most appropriate lesson in personal responsibility for all of us.
So let's try and focus the debate on personal responsibility and some daily exercise and not on suing. The only ones that will benefit from litigation are the trial lawyers.
Cross-posted at Fox & Hounds Daily.
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Written by David Houston, Co-Chair, California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
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Friday, 16 July 2010 10:41 |
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CALA Co-Chair David Houston's editorial touting reforming the civil justice system as a way to turn California's economy around was published in the Santa Monica Daily Press. He said:
"More than 600,000 of Los Angeles County's workforce is now unemployed due to our national economic crisis. Public tax revenues have plummeted, critical services have been slashed, family incomes have stagnated and the business climate is depressed. While we struggle to find a comprehensive solution to these economic woes, one obvious, critical remedy is consistently ignored: civil litigation reform. California's burdensome and biased litigation climate discourages new start-up businesses, slows the growth of our existing small companies and threatens millions of jobs at the very moment we need them the most.
California has one of the worst litigation climates in the nation. Pointless, wasteful and unnecessary civil lawsuits are immensely expensive. Unnecessary civil actions drive up prices, slow the growth of small companies, kill jobs, and push new business startups out of our state. In an economy as depressed as ours, we simply cannot afford to waste critical resources or hinder the business recovery. Right now, we need jobs, not lawsuits." |
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Wednesday, 02 June 2010 00:00 |
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CALA San Diego Local Leadership Council Member George Coles had a letter-to-the-editor published in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the importance of judges. Here's what he had to say:
"Businesses take note of a state’s legal climate when deciding where to expand or locate. With California’s reputation favoring plaintiff lawyers over small business, it’s more important than ever for voters to make informed choices for judges – and state lawmakers for that matter. In a recent statewide survey, two out of three California small business owners said they would be able to create more jobs if they were better protected against abusive lawsuits. I encourage voters to consider judicial candidates a top priority." |
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