Preemption - Wall Street Jounal Reports How Bush Trying to Take Away Right to Sue for Unsafe Products in His Final Days
As you are aware if you have followed my blog over time, the issue of preemption and how our right to access to the courts to address injuries caused by unsafe products is being taken away under our unsuspecting noses, has been a continuous crusade of mine. My previous discussions of this issue and what it means to the everyday consumer of products can be found here. 
Well, the Wall Street Journal reports today how the Bush Administration, even in its last days, as the country's economy slowly burns to the ground, is doing everything it can to continue to block consumers' access to the court system when they are injured by defective products. The Bush administration couldn't do it the upfront way by bringing it to Congress and let it be debated in front of the American public. Instead he did it the quiet, back door way by having the various federal agencies involved in regulating products; the FDA (drugs and medical devices), NHTSA (cars and trucks) and CPSC (all other consumer products) create rules that incorporate provisions that indicate a consumer injured by a defective product which the applicable agency approved to be marketed cannot seek redress for his or her injuries in a court. Sorry, if the agency says the product is ok, that's good enough.
The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has issued a press statement and a significant paper entitled "Get Out of Jail Free -- How the Bush Administration Helps Corporations Escape Accountability" explaining in detail what the Bush administration has done over the last 8 years to take away our rights as consumers to seek redress in our courts for injuries caused by defective and unsafe products. What the Wall Street Journal article points out is that even with a new administration in power who does not agree with this underhanded method of cutting off our right to access to the court system, it could take several years to change the regulations issued by these agencies under Bush. Maybe if the Bush Administration spent more time over the last 8 years studying the economy and properly regulating the banking industry instead of figuring out ways to take away our right to access to the court system to address our injuries, we might not be waking up every morning now hearing the words "recession", "depression" and "crash".
