Campaign 2000: Bush and McCain: Who Is The Real Reformer?

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The two guys Bush couldn't hammer were Laney and Bullock. At first, neither was sure about this new Governor who tried so hard to ingratiate himself. Could they trust him to keep his end of a deal? They found out during Bush's first session, when push came to shove on tort reform--a package of bills designed to rein in what Bush called "junk lawsuits that clog our courts." While it wasn't clear that frivolous lawsuits were out of control, business groups looking to limit their liability had for years been pouring money into the issue, helping create a pro-tort reform majority in the state senate. (The groups gave generously to Bush. In his two gubernatorial campaigns, he collected $4.1 million from tort-reform lobbyists, according to the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice--10% of his total contributions.)

Tort reform seemed inevitable, but after six weeks of negotiations in the spring of 1995, the package stalled over the issue of capping the punitive damages that juries use to punish defendants. Bush and the Republicans wanted a cap of $100,000; Bullock and the Democrats wanted it set at $1 million. When Bush refused to budge, state senator David Sibley, a Republican ally, told him the bill could die. Bush invited Sibley to the mansion for dinner that night. While they were eating, the phone rang. It was Bullock, calling to deliver something he was famous for--an "ass chewing," as it was known around Austin. Bush got chewed. "I am not sure anyone has ever talked to the Governor like that before," says Sibley. After it was over, Sibley asked Bush to consider a compromise cap--$750,000, far closer to Bullock's number than Bush's. The well-chewed Governor agreed. Sibley called Bullock and gave him the news, and Bullock asked to speak to Bush. "You're the greatest Governor in the history of Texas," he told the rookie. Then he sat back to see if Bush would keep his word. It wasn't easy for Bush to bring along reluctant members of his own party, but he did it. "I think that cemented the friendship with Bullock," says Sibley.

Last week Bush was making extravagant claims for his tort-reform package, saying he'd taken on the trial bar and saved Texans almost $3 billion in lowered insurance rates. As the Washington Post reported, insurance experts in Texas call the claim preposterous. Premiums have climbed since 1995, even as insurance companies have reaped windfall profits, because damage awards are smaller and lawsuits, even justified ones, are far more difficult to bring to trial. A grateful insurance industry has so far contributed nearly $1 million to Bush's presidential campaign.

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