Meet the cast of characters who want to keep jobs out of Wisconsin:
American Association of Retired Persons
Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups
Disability Rights Wisconsin
Alzheimer's Association of Southeast Wisconsin
Mental Health of America of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans
Pretty shady bunch, wouldn't you say?
All of those groups oppose the Republican tort "reform" bill that is moving through the state legislature like a bullet train. It passed the Senate Tueasday and could clear the Assembly on Friday.
Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP claim that limiting the rights and ability of victims to sue, prove their claims, and collect damages from institutions and companies that injure them will create jobs in Wisconsin.
There is no evidence of that, of course. But conservatives have pounded away at the issue for years. Nursing homes have to pay high insurance premiums, they say, because Wisconsin courts have been too generous in ordering compensation for people whose lives are lost or ruined because of defective products or improper treatent or care.
The bill wouldvlimit punitive damages to $750,000, and make it harder for victims by keeping some required, official reports of nursing home injuries out of the court record.
So here's the question: Is the current law preventing Wisconsin from having enough nursing homes? Is there a shortage? If the bill passes, will we see a lot of nursing homes moving here from Illinois and Minnesota, or new ones opening? Exactly where are these jobs going to come from?
Whatever the motivation is for this rush to pass this bill, it is not about jobs. Let's not pretend it is.