Bush Thinks Capitalism and Cronyism Mean the Same Thing

Capitalism 101

Which of the following looks more like capitalism and free enterprise?

Example A: The society has a justice system which provides an injured person can go to court and have her community peers, not the government, decide whether the malefactor acted negligently and if he did (and that negligence casued the actual injuries and damages) order the malefactor to compensate the injured person to the full extent of the injuries and damages sustained as a result of the negligent conduct.

Example B: The society provides that an injured person can go to court and have a jury decide whether the malefactor (individual or huge corporation) should compensate the injured person (that the malefactor was negligent and that the negligence actually casued the injury). However, in this society the government decides that even though the Constitution says that all people have the right to trial by jury that no matter how bad or extreme the injuries and suffering, the malefactor (for fun let's call the malefactor Halliburton) shall have to pay no more than $250,000 for the damages it caused.

Which society looks more the "capitalist" model? You know, the one that looks more free. The one that looks like it has less government regulation. I thought so too.

Not according to the chimperor.

I do want to put it in the larger context, though, about why we even ought to take on this issue. As Carlos said, lawsuits are -- a litigious society is one that makes it difficult for capital to flow freely. And a capitalist society depends on the capacity for people willing to take risk and to say there's a better future, and I want to take a risk toward that future. And I'm deeply concerned that too many lawsuits make it too difficult for people to do that.

And so I've called upon Congress to work with the administration on legal reform, whether it be to reform the asbestos litigation issue or medical liability reform to make sure medicine is cost-effective to our citizens, or whether it be class-action reform. Legal reform is part of a larger agenda to make sure this economy of ours continues to grow. We're seeing good growth now. As you know, last month, in the month of January, this country created 146,000 new jobs. The national unemployment rate is down to 5.2 percent. This is all progress. But it's important for the Congress to work with the administration to keep this progress going. And so legal reform is part of a strategy for economic vitality and growth.

I think he's on to something. Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, and Halliburton all put their duties to the American citizenry first. Don't they?