Filibuster-proof Senate sounds great…but what is Arlen Specter up to now that he’s suddenly found the light?

Even as Arlen Specter (D-PA) announced publicly last month that he intended to switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party, I, for one am not ready to throw myself behind him in support…yet. I’m afraid perhaps I have too vivid of a memory of 2005, when Specter attempted to replace asbestos tort litigation with a corporate-friendly bail out for the manufacturers and their insurance companies.

Ah yes, you must remember now? S.852, (Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act) ironically and incorrectly bearing the acronym of the “FAIR” Act of 2005, was a piece of legislation designed to end all asbestos injury litigation in the United States by replacing the tort system with a massive trust fund that was supposed to provide for all future claims.

Sounds good on the surface, right? Perhaps, but just below the crust of S.852, which was Specter’s sponsored brainchild, there were several problems.

Perhaps most importantly, the fund was estimated by several neutral think tanks to be drastically underfunded, considering the nature of asbestos related illness and latency between exposure and the onset of health problems, like the rare but devastating cancer mesothelioma.

t would essentially establish a sunset on asbestos injury compensation when the money ran out, so those who didn’t get sick fast enough would be left out of the bill and left out of the courts. Now I’m sure the asbestos companies and insurers are more than eager for the sun to set on their responsibility to compensate those they injured, but those slowly suffocating as their lungs collapse from asbestos damage would likely see things differently.

Veterans of the United States armed forces were particularly affected by this bill, as exposure was common among servicemen and women. Asbestos exposure was common in military installations and aboard naval vessels. Many today are having enough trouble securing their VA claims that they certainly don’t need the additional complication of trying to access compensation that they wouldn’t be entitled to under Specter’s crown jewel of the special interests.

Perhaps more disturbing is that Specter attempted to build into the bill enough tax breaks for asbestos companies and their insurers that the fund would be completely covered by a shuffling-around of tax-payer funds.

I may change my tune in the coming months but you have to think that Specter sitting on the left side of the aisle has to make a few of his new buddies a little nervous. Will he hold up the healthcare bill to get something corporate-friendly like S.852 through? I hope not, but until then he’s the new kid on the block and shouldn’t be trusted until he proves his faith to the people, not the special interests.