In this morning’s paper, I was stunned by another usurpation of consumer’s power. Due to a little noticed Texas Supreme Court decision, Brainard vs Trinity Universal Insurance Co., our uninsured motorist coverage was made ‘practically useless’ by their pro-business ruling. This unbelievable ruling gives insurance companies incentive to deny payments on uninsured claims forcing Texas drivers to have to sue to recover damages. With Texas’ high percentage of drivers who carry no coverage at 20 to 25 percent, this leaves many drivers worrying. This is a perfect example as to why we should pay more attention to politics. Let’s look under the covers and see how this could happen…

Let’s first take a look at what uninsured and underinsured insurance benefits are. In Texas, you are required to obtain and prove that you have uninsured and underinsured insurance. Almost every Texas with auto insurance pays extra for this, typically $60 to $300 per year. The insurance is meant to pay for losses from accidents with uninsured drivers or hit-and-run collisions. It also is a stop-gap measure for those damages in an accident in which the other drivers insurance will not pay for all loses. What the Brainard decision changed was that insurance companies are no longer required to pay unless a court determines the dollar value of the loss and who was at fault, even if the other driver admits liability.

What this means is if you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist who was at fault, your insurance company can decline your payment of claims forcing you to enter settlement talks which usually means pennies on the dollar or sue the insurance provider. Well, here’s the catch — most drivers carry the minimum of $20,000 to cover property damage, medical bills, funeral costs, disability, lost wages, disfigurement and pain and suffering. You say, well, I’ll sue and win and the insurance company has to pay my damages and the cost of my attorney fees. Wrong! Lawyer fees and other trial costs can no longer be assessed to the insurance company if you win. Since, the least amount a lawyer would have to spend to get your case through trial is about $10,000 and it goes up from there….you’re screwed.

So, why should we pay attention to politics? Because the Texas Supreme Court’s nine Republican judges consistently render decisions that are pro-business in lieu of consumers. It is this case and 69 other cases involving consumers in 2005 to 2006, that the court sided with businesses 84 percent of the time. This is according to Texas Watch, an Austin-based consumer group that frequently takes on the insurance industry. You may ask, why does the Texas Supreme Court have so many Republican judges? Because Rick Perry who has been the Republican governor for the last 4 years, appointed them.




The other interesting twist to this Republican control of the state, is that Rick Perry has been in office so long that all state boards and commissions are full of people he appointed or reappointed. So, when he issues an executive order to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to “fast-track” the TXU’s application for 11 new coal-fired power plants, they said “yes sir”. And when he issued another highly controversial executive order mandating all girls entering the sixth grade to have the HPV vaccine without public or congressional approval, the health and human services agencies said “yes sir”.

With Gov. Perry having been re-elected for four more years, Texas is in for more of his consumer abuse. This governor looks to be on the same par as George W. when it comes to pro big-business and corporate interests overriding Texas citizen rights. What is even more disconcerting is that Perry won with only 39 percent of the votes. So, you can hardly say he has a mandate by the people. This is what makes this a pretty scary scenario especially when you consider the long lasting effects of his appointments, not only to commissions and agencies, but to the Texas Supreme Court where appointments are made for vacancies on the bench and then re-elected for six year terms each time. And, being that most people don’t pay attention to politics, they keep getting re-elected for life.

The lesson from this article is that unless you want to continue to be overrun by big business and corporate conglomerate influence peddling, you will continue to have your rights trampled on. My question is, why do people continue to vote for Republicans with this incredible history of influence peddling by big business? With the majority of peoWhy It’s Important to Pay Attention to Politicsple in the United States voting independently as consumers, why does big business prevail in elections? Doesn’t the common man understand they are voting their rights away as a consumer in the Republican party?

I believe that the more people understand what is going on, the better chance we have of turning this ship around. The ship has definitely sailed, but we still have a chance in 2008, to do something about its destination. And I feel it’s my responsibility to society is to continue writing political articles that expose what’s really going on behind the scenes and help people become more aware of politics. It’s time for America to wake up!