As you know, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Asbestos Compensation legislation last month and sent the bill to the full Senate for a vote. Fox News covered the story the other day in its usual "fair and balanced" fashion. I present below the version that actually aired on T.V. But thanks to an confidential source (Deep Lung) located somewhere in the New York area, Confined Space has acquired of the original Fox report before the fair and balanced police got to it.
First the official version:
FOX SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRIT HUME
June 3, 2005
Byline: Jim Angle, Major Garrett, William Lajeunesse
ANGLE: More Special Report in a moment, but first, let's get a check on the day's other headlines and a preview of tonight's FOX Report from Shepard Smith in our New York newsroom -- Shep?(NEWSBREAK)
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been sickened or even killed by diseases related to asbestos. In fact, more than 70 companies who made asbestos have gone bankrupt paying damages. And other companies fear a similar fate. So the court system, groaning under still more asbestos cases, is urging Congress to intervene.
FOX News correspondent Major Garrett has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJOR GARRETT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Asbestos, discovery of it in its dangerous fibrous form at a work site like this one in Montana often leads to closure, clean-up and a lawsuit. Asbestos is only manufactured now in safe, encased forms.
But exposure to free-floating spear-like asbestos fibers can lead to severe lung ailments, such as asbestosis. The worst form, mesothelioma, a fatal cancer in the lining of the lung. At least 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year.
As a result, asbestos litigation clogs the courts. Real victims seek damages, but phony ones do, too. Seventy-seven companies have gone bankrupt paying damages to real victims and to frauds.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: We know that there have been a lot of injustices that have occurred over the years.
GARRETT: Thousands of other asbestos cases are pending. Ten U.S. companies alone face $25 billion in projected liability.
WAYNE BROUGH, FREEDOM WORKS VP: We clearly have a system that's being exploited for opportunistic reasons. And I think, in the process, you're having real people being harmed.
GARRETT: Congress wants to reduce corporate liability and compensate real asbestos victims. The proposed remedy? A bipartisan Senate bill that creates a $140 billion trust fund financed by asbestos companies and insurers. A special court would grant awards on a no-fault basis.
The goals: Eliminate lawsuits, speed up compensation, and use specific medical criteria to weed out phony claims.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It will enable thousands of victims of asbestos, deadly diseases who have been able to collect nothing, to collect now from this fund. They've been unable to collect anything because their companies are bankrupt.
GARRETT: Big U.S. manufacturers like auto companies support the bill, preferring predictable trust fund payments to years of unknown liability. When senators unveiled their bill, companies with asbestos-related liability saw their stocks soar. Evidence, liberal critics say, that the bill is a big corporate give-away.
FRANK CLEMENTE, PUBLIC CITIZEN CONGRESS WATCH: Many companies that are liable, that have caused this problem, are going to be let off the hook. They're only going to be paying pennies on the dollar into this trust fund.
GARRETT: Senators concede the trust fund could only work as long as it remains solvent, and there's one huge variable. How many victims will qualify for payments? Right now, 100,000 damage claims over asbestos are filed every year.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is an unprecedented fund. We don't know how many victims there really are out there.
GARRETT: Critics fear the trust fund won't last and Congress will be too timid to go back to big business to foot additional costs.
CLEMENTE: They always underestimate the number of claims that come in, how much gets paid out. And in the end, the taxpayers end up paying for it.
GARRETT (on-screen): The Senate bill, which passed out of the Judiciary Committee in May by a wide margin, also caps lawyers' fees at 5 percent, down from the 40 percent typically applied in asbestos cases.
The White House sees this as another potential tort reform victory. But conservative critics are pushing a house bill that's an alternative. It spells out what constitutes an asbestos-related disease. This approach, they say, protects companies, victims and the taxpayers.
In Washington, Major Garrett, FOX News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And now the unexpurgated, unedited, unfair and badly balanced orginal piece:
FAUX SPECIAL REPORT WITH BRIT HUME
June 3, 2005
Byline: Jim Angle, Major Garrett, William Lajeunesse
ANGLE: More Special Report in a moment, but first, let's get a check on the day's other headlines and a preview of tonight's FAUX Report from Shepard Smith in our New York newsroom -- Shep?(NEWSBREAK)
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been sickened or even killed by diseases related to asbestos. But in fact, only around 70 companies who knowingly exposed their workers to one of the most deadly materials on the planet have been held fully accountable. Other companies, fearing they might suffer a similar fate have spent millions lobbying susceptible politicos to ensure that would not happen. The court system, led by attorneys fighting on behalf of dying workers, have objected to no avail as the well-trained Congressional yes-men have moved in with nails and hammers to close the coffin lid on equitable settlements.
FAUX News correspondent Major Garrett has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJOR GARRETT, FAUX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Asbestos, known for over 50 years as a killer of men at work sites like this one in Montana, has avoided disclosure, clean-up and lawsuits by sheer force of its economic power.
But exposure to free-floating spear-like asbestos fibers can lead to severe lung ailments, such as asbestosis. The worst form, mesothelioma, a fatal cancer in the lining of the lung. At least 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year. But even more shocking, more than seventy-seven companies have gone tragically bankrupt when they were forced to actually pay damages to victims.
In spite of the total lack of control and responsibility on the part of the employers, some workers have survived long enough to undertake litigation.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: We know that a lot of injustices have occurred over the years, but as a Republican Senator proud to be supported by American business, I can’t stand by and let good American businesses face a long, painful death because of irrelevant issues like ethics, murder, and deceit. That’s not why they elected me.
GARRETT: Thousands of other asbestos cases are pending. Ten U.S. companies alone face $25 billion in projected liability, although pigs will fly before Congress allows them to pay out that much.
WAYNE BROUGH, FREEDOM WORKS VP: We clearly have a system that's being exploited for opportunistic reasons. We built this system, and we’ll be damned if were going to let it get taken over by a frivolous trial lawyer witch hunt on behalf of few sick people who are going to die soon anyway. We can't let the bad luck of a few guys (and their wives and children) bring down the institutions that are creating jobs and protecting the value of the people’s stock market. I understand people are suffering, but surely the fate of Dow Jones is more important than the life any one individual.
GARRETT: Some in Congress want to reduce corporate liability and compensate real asbestos victims. The proposed remedy? A bipartisan Senate bill that creates a $140 billion trust fund financed by those we trust most - the asbestos companies and insurers. A special court would grant awards on a no-fault basis. “No fault,” because after all, everyone knows that the asbestos tragedy was really no ones’ fault.
The goals: Eliminate lawsuits (where embarrassing details might be revealed,, speed up compensation (so the sick will shut up and go away), and use specific medical criteria (that helpful industry officials have developed in order to weed out phony or expensive claims). While everyone admits there are lots of asbestos workers out there who have lung cancer, it’s clear that some are just slouching off and could really go back to work anytime they want.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It will enable thousands of victims of asbestos, deadly diseases who have been able to collect nothing, to collect almost nothing now from this fund. True, they've been unable to collect anything because their companies that gave them cancer have managed to find ways to hide behind corporate bankruptcy laws. But surely we don’t want these companies going bankrupt when they could be setting up new businesses, investing in real estate, keeping the engine of commerce going and, of course, participating in our great political system.
GARRETT: Big U.S. manufacturers like auto companies support the bill, preferring not to admit in court that they knew asbestos was deadly and that they didn't really want to invest in worker protection or safer alternatives. Senators were SHOCKED (wink, wink) that their stocks soared when the bill passed out of committee. Evidence, liberal critics whine, that the bill is a big corporate give-away.
FRANK CLEMENTE, PUBLIC CITIZEN CONGRESS WATCH: Many companies that are liable, that have caused this problem, are going to be let off the hook. They're only going to be paying pennies on the dollar into this trust fund.
GARRETT: Senators concede the trust fund could only work as long as it remains solvent, and there's one huge variable. How many victims will qualify for payments? Right now, 100,000 damage claims over asbestos are filed every year. But the way things are going, after Republicans get rid of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the program should be able to pay for itself.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is an unprecedented fund. We don't know how many victims there really are out there. True, if terrorists plotted to slowly kill 100,000 Americans a year we would probably be enlisting 5 year olds. That is just so grim. I really can't think about it. Hey, did you hear that the landslides stopped in LA. Now there's some good news!
GARRETT: Critics fear the trust fund won't last and Congress will be too timid to go back to big business to foot additional costs. We all know how timid those Congress people can be – especially when it comes to making business foot the bill for the damage they have caused.
CLEMENTE: They always underestimate the number of claims that come in, how much gets paid out. And in the end, the taxpayers end up paying for it, just like they paid for the Savings and Loan scandals of the ‘80s, oil in Iraq, Wal-Mart’s low pay and lack of benefits ...
GARRETT (on-screen): The Senate bill, which passed out of the Judiciary Committee in May by a wide margin, also caps lawyers' fees at 5 percent, down from the 40 percent typically applied in asbestos cases. That means that trial attorneys won't have the funds to investigate claims, get good medical opinions, document what happened, or have the funding to start any costly lawsuits over the thousands of other chemicals poisoning Americans that remain unaddressed by OSHA or the EPA.
CLEMENTE: ...lousy workers comp laws, a prescription drug bill that benefits drug companies, subsidies for nuclear power…
GARRETT (on-screen): Thank you, Frank, that will be enough.
The White House sees this as another potential tort deform, er, reform victory, ensuring that the Democrats have a smaller pot of financial support from radical trial lawyers. But conservative critics are pushing a House bill that's an alternative. It spells out what constitutes an asbestos-related disease. According to insiders, "Caused By Asbestos" will have to be stamped on your lung X-ray by God herself. This approach, they say, protects companies, the politicians and the shareholders.
In Washington, Major Garrett, FAUX News.
