Editor:

I got a good laugh from Hal Herbert’s letter complaining that America is divided into two camps: evil corporations and lower-middle-class workers.

You have to wonder just what sort of parallel universe Mr. Herbert inhabits. He spends his time trying to pit one group against the other instead of encouraging people to get educated and work hard to get ahead. This is America. You can excel in the arts, the sciences, medicine, law, sports or dozens of other fields. Plenty of folks start their own businesses. The sky is the limit here. People line up to come here from all over the world because of the unparalleled opportunity available to all — right here on these shores. If you choose to be lazy and incompetent, that’s a personal choice and it’s your fault.

Next, we hear how wonderful and misunderstood personal injury lawyers really are. Herbert was actually correct when he says every item in your house has been affected by the legal system — they all cost more. Personal injury lawyers have increased the price of everything from the meal you eat at McDonald’s to the clothes you buy at Wal-Mart.

Where do you think the money comes from to pay for frivolous lawsuits? The companies that he thinks of as evil actually produce things that make life better. Lawyers produce nothing — less than nothing as the tidal wave of personal injury suits are a tax on all products and services raising their prices to everyone.

Look at the latest travesty of justice — asbestos litigation. Another one of those wonderful class action lawsuits where the lawyers collect fees of a hundred million and you get a coupon for 35 cents off your next purchase. Sound familiar?

This is a huge, nationwide scam involving hundreds of rotten lawyers, dozens of unethical doctors and billions of dollars. Waves of lawyers scoured the country, advertising and sending out vans with portable X-ray machines to line up tens of thousands of “patients” — most of whom had no injury whatsoever. They obtained the services of several dozen greedy doctors who “diagnosed” asbestosis from the X-rays alone.

Judge Jack in Texas finally blew the lid off this scam, and now there are lawyers and doctors who have mysteriously disappeared and are on the run. Many others are looking at serious prison time. Lest you think this is no big deal, you’re wrong. These lawsuits have bankrupted many formerly profitable large companies, putting many workers out of work. Interesting how this works, isn’t it?

Next, Herbert is an expert on medical malpractice. Absurd medical malpractice judgments in some states have caused hundreds of doctors to close up shop and leave their states without specialists in neurosurgery, obstetrics and anesthesiology, among others. And although he purports to be an expert on medical malpractice insurance, many, if not, most malpractice insurance carriers are now mutual insurance companies owned by the policyholders themselves. There is no excessive overhead, nor do they charge excessive premiums to make a profit. Rates are what they are because of outrageous jury awards that bear no relation to reality.

Sorry to confuse you with the facts, but it’s obvious some people don’t know what they’re talking about.

Justin Salem

Pima