I'm Baaaaack. And so is Ben Sargent!

(Fair & Balanced) Rants & Raves has been dark for the past two days. The wireless receiver for my antenna (called a radio by the wireless service providers) blew out on Monday eve. It has taken two days to get a technician out here to exchange the unit. A new radio, and voila! (Fair & Balanced) Rants & Raves is back in cyberspace. The Texas Constitution has gained twenty-two (22) New Amendments. The crown jewel in this year's constitutional folly is Prop. 12. This allows tort reform: aka screw the defenseless and the ignorant. The Texas medicos frightened their patients (mostly geezers who vote in any election) into voting YES for Prop. 12 because the medicos threatened to leave Texas for states with lower malpractice insurance premiums. Now, the Texas Legislature (a collection of geniuses) will set a MAXIMUM that a jury can award for damages in a malpractice case. I think the magic number is $75K.

So, when I had foot surgery a few years back, the nurse came into the pre-op area and asked, "Which foot (is to be operated on)?" I said, "left." She took a black marker and made an "X" on my left foot along with an "L" and an "R" on my right foot. I asked, "What's that about?" Her reply: "We've had surgeons operate on the wrong foot." Wow! A surgeon who can't tell left from right!

Let's say I was having hip replacement surgery. The orthopod can't tell left from right and replaces my good hip with an artificial appliance. My left hip — in need of replacement — is left in place. I seek correction of this error and the orthopod stonewalls. I go to court and the jury might award me $1K in damages. I don't get a new, correct hip replacement unless I pay for it. Helluva deal.

Thank goodness for Amarillo's Ben Sargent. Ol' Ben gets right to the heart of any matter. Here is Ben Sargent's take on Texas tort reform.