Hey, Pete. After the grueling election season I'm just now regaining my appetite for politics. Talk about burnout! But we've got some important legislation coming up that doesn't get as much air time as keeping the tax cuts permanent or restructuring/privatizing social security. The federalization of all medical negligence cases is being debated. A Congressional hearing was supposed to be held today at which patients injured by medical mistakes and their family members were supposed to be able to speak. An indictment came down today against WR Grace and some of its top officials for hiding information relating to its asbestos mine in Libby, Montana. It's not coincidental that Pres. Bush attacked "frivolous" asbestos claims in his speech.

We have a Federal No-Fault automobile insurance bill co-sponsored by Sen. McCain of all people on the horizon that is mislabeled as a choice for consumers, but if you read the legislation all the favorable choices lie with the auto insurers. Remember, only drunk drivers like no-fault insurance.

GE Protective just petitioned the Texas Dept. of Insurance to increase its rates because it says that Texas' caps on non-economic damages have had no effect on their bottom line. This is happening all over the country in states where insurance companies have won tort reform battles for caps claiming that their rates would either go down or remain steady then after winning they come back and say that lawsuits never had much effect on their rates to begin with. Tort reform was recently defeated in Maryland and there's a huge battle going on in GA right now in which the Texas Insurance Commissioner was invited to speak on the virtues of caps. I don't think he expected GE Protective's application to increase its rates, but the good guys in GA will be ready for him.

Anyhow, it's a never-ending battle to maximize the potential recovery for my clients.