Hamburger Bill

Hamburger Bill

Here's one that should pass.

You know what? I weigh too much. Why? Because I eat more than I should and I don't get enough exercise.

Is it Pizza Hut's fault that I do this? OF COURSE IT IS.

They should pay ME! Then I could afford more of their delicious pizza. MMMMMMMMM!!!!

(That's just a joke, folks. ;-)

Dems rightfully say that this is a swipe at the trial lawyers and their frivolous lawsuit practices . . . but they say that as if it were a bad thing. 'Sup wi' dat?

BTW - what is the #1 thing I would do to make this country better if given the opportunity to pass one law?

Move us to a loser-pays legal system.

If the lawsuit you bring if found to be frivolous when you lose, you pay the other guys legal fees. If you can't afford it, your lawyer, who was working for a 30% contingency fee to begin with, has to pay it. If no one can pay it, jail time may be required.

This would reduce the cost of most everything in the US. Plus it would force people, like people who are overweight or people who smoked for thirty years after being told it would kill you for example, to take responsibility for themselves.

It would lower insurance costs, too. Doctors would return to the practice they love. OB/GYNs would return to underserved communities which they left for fear of being blamed for congenital birth defects.

Companies could hire more and better people at higher salaries because the cost of offering benefits would go down significantly.

It would be Utopia and we would never have any problems ever again.

(Another joke, folks.)

But it would help us to live our lives again rather than fear doing ANYTHING because we can get sued for it.

House Takes Up 'Cheeseburger Bill'

The same people who sued Big Tobacco (search) are suing fast-food companies but some lawmakers in Congress are pushing for a law to put the lawsuits on a starvation diet.

The House of Representatives is considering what has been nicknamed the "Cheeseburger Bill" (search) on Wednesday.

If the bill ? officially called the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act ? becomes law, it would prevent what it describes as "frivolous lawsuits against the manufacturers, distributors or sellers of food or nonalcoholic beverage products" arising from obesity claims.

The measure basically says it's the consumer's problem if his greasy-eating habit adds to his bulk and would protect companies like KFC and Wendy's from fat-related lawsuits. But it wouldn't prevent civil suits stemming from tainted foods or mislabeling.

Coming up for a vote a day after health officials announced that obesity was on the verge of surpassing tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, the bill is expected to easily pass the House.

But it may hit some obstacles in the Senate, which has often blocked House-passed measures that would cap legal damages or protect certain industries from lawsuits.

At a news conference Wednesday, bill sponsor Rep. Ric Keller (search), R-Fla., said the bill is about "common sense and personal responsibility."

The White House issued a statement backing Keller's bill, saying, "food manufacturers and sellers should not be held liable for injury because of a person's consumption of legal, unadulterated food and a person's weight gain or obesity."

But Democrats called the bill a Republican political ploy aimed at hurting trial lawyers and helping the multibillion-dollar food business.