Sue me harder 2

So, remember how we’re going to dump billions and billions of dollars into the laps of the Big Three automakers, to rescue them from their own myopic decisions? And remember how automakers are suing the crap out of every state that tries to implement California’s tailpipe emission standards? Remember how Obama green-lit the waiver for those standards yesterday, and how those standards are overwhelmingly supported by the public?

Putting all that together, it occurred to New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert to wonder whether automakers will use that taxpayer money to fund their lawsuits against, um, taxpayers.

So she contacted them, and the following day put up a second post: Yes. Yes, they are going to use taxpayer money to sue taxpayers.

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

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  1. Pompey Road Posted 12:08 am
    28 Jan 2009

    Lawyered Up:I posted on this before. 3.3 billion last year for lobbyist goint to estimated 5 billion this year. Corporation other than and inclucing the auto industry suing the government paying the lawyers with the money the taxpayers gave them.
    Is this part of Obama's effort to save or create 3 million jobs?

    The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.
  2. biodiversivist's avatar

    biodiversivist Posted 2:39 am
    28 Jan 2009

    Just finished a book calledThe "Problem with Lawyers" written by a lawyer/judge. They actually significantly negatively impact our GDP. She recommended several changes to get the system under control. For example, in some countries, lawyers pay if they lose. This makes them all think very hard before launching a law suit. The problem is that lawyers now run most corporations and most politicians are lawyers. Good luck.
    Was at a dinner party last week where I heard a lawyer horror story. A neighbor, who was a lawyer, had all of the trees cut down on a steep slope above his neighbor's house to capture a view. He had this done while they were away on a trip. The trees were on his neighbor's property. The guy who cut the trees for him did not know that.
    When they got home and found all their trees gone they confronted him. He said "sue me." They did. The guy he hired to cut the trees was ruined and the lawyer paid to have the hill replanted, which was his plan all along. He sold his "view" property for a fortune and the hill eventually slid down and damaged his neighbor's house, who spent a fortune building a retaining wall to shore the hill up. Got a lawyer for a neighbor? Consider moving.

    In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

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