I was just reading about the infighting between the white house and the senate over the y2k anti-litagation bill that puts a cap on damages and a 90 day cooling off period before a suit can be filed to protect corporations from damages caused by the y2k bug. What about john and jane Q public. What about a bill protecting our home from forclosure during the y2k economic meltdown. What about our rights.

What about dads rights in the event a depression hits and were unable to pay our child support. where is our protection from persecution. Will do what it takes to feed our kids but we may not be able to pay our bills.

How do you think we are going to react to our kids starving,because our govt instead of mobilizing all of our nations resources to prepare the nation for the certain consequenses of a y2k effort that has failed they are rearranging the deck chairs.

I am pissed. They have some nerve. They are supposed to be beholden to watch out for the people of this nation not it's snob elite, who's greed has put this country on a quick track to implosion. I love this country and Mr congressman, Mr senator, mr.President you better start loving this country now or leave. Y2k is serious business your actions better start reflecting that you care. We have a little over 90 days to get our communities ready for the event we better see you get to work now. Dont preach the lies. we dont have time for that. Many lives can be saved if honesty and integrity are applied at this monent in time to work together. We need to muster all hands on deck and all of the great creative talent that our communities have and harness that potential for victory over y2k. We can do it but we need no Bs type of leadership and resources now. We should be willing to spend 8 billion dollars in the next 90 days to equip our communities to weather what will be a long y2k winter. If large companies cant fix y2k in 4 years what makes you think that it will be fixed in 4 weeks,aint going to happen. You leaders of the U.S govt have a choice to make now either DO THE RIGHT THING by the U.S Public or face a truth commision that will surely be set up in the after math of y2k. And they will ask why did you abandoned us when you were warned by the experts of what y2k will bring. Will be watching for their actions, remembering and recording their lies for future generations to judge. Of course I know that this thread will fall on blind eyes of those in govt. But I am an optimist and will remain hopefull. Those that do the right thing will be abuntantly rewarded by votes.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation . com), June 16, 1999

Answers

Hi Mike:

I'll never forget some stolid advice an older English gentleman once imparted to his younger protage'... Sir, there are two basic rules for surviving in Africa: #1, Never, ever drink during daylight hours; and, #2, Never, ever go to bed quite sober!

Given the late hour and content of your post, I must assume that you, too, consider that valid advice. ;>)

Best regards,

Yan

-- (no@no.no), June 16, 1999.

Hi Mike:

I'll never forget some stolid advice an older English gentleman once imparted to his younger protage'... Sir, there are two basic rules for surviving in Africa: #1, Never, ever drink during daylight hours; and, #2, Never, ever go to bed quite sober!

Given the extreme lateness of the hour and content of your post, I can only assume that you, too, consider that valid advice. ;>)

Kindest regards,

Yan

-- Yan (no@no.no), June 16, 1999.

I cannot imagine lawmakers caving in to the deep pockets that feed this machine. Bend over and spread them.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brushing aside a White House veto threat, the Senate Tuesday approved legislation to protect companies against lawsuits stemming from the year 2000 (Y2K) computer glitch.

Senate approval, on a 62-37 vote, was a victory for high-tech companies and other businesses, who warned that lawyers were plotting a major millennium bug offensive for Jan. 1 that could bankrupt firms and slow the nation's economic growth. According to some experts, Y2K- related litigation costs could add up to $1 trillion.

The bill's passage was a blow to the White House and consumer advocates, who warned that consumers' rights would be undermined in court.

The legislation, by Senate Commerce Committee chairman and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain of Arizona, would delay the filing of Y2K lawsuits during a 30-to-90-day cooling-off period, make it harder for consumers to file suits if their computers crashed and cap punitive damages in certain cases.

``Our judicial system should not be clogged with possible Y2K failures nor novel complaints to ensure the payment of lottery-type settlements and attorneys' fees,'' McCain said.

But his victory may be short-lived.

The White House has threatened to veto the bill, arguing it would provide too much protection to big business at the expense of consumers and undermine Y2K readiness by taking pressure off the companies expected to fix the problem.

The Senate bill must still be reconciled with a different version approved by the House of Representatives. The White House and key Democrats were sure to press for pro-consumer changes during those final negotiations.

``We should not grant sweeping legal immunity to those who have caused but not corrected problems,'' said Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who proposed an alternative favored by the White House. ``It's very important that we balance the rights of industry and the rights of consumers.''

The millennium bug stems from the fact that many older computers use only the last two digits of a year to record dates. Unless corrected, such systems could treat 2000 as 1900, generating errors or system crashes on Jan. 1.

The bill was pushed by a wide range of politically powerful business groups, representing IBM, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) and other high-tech companies. They urged President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to sign the McCain bill into law.

``The president and vice president have a clear choice: support the American economy, millions of small businesses and high-tech entrepreneurs or support a group of trial lawyers looking to get rich off Y2K problems. It's a very simple choice,'' Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said.

The legislation would delay the filing of Y2K lawsuits for up to 90 days, giving companies time to fix any problems. It would make it harder for lawyers to bring class-action lawsuits and limit punitive damages for small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees. The bill would also protect small businesses from civil penalties.

In a compromise with Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Dianne Feinstein of California, as well as other lawmakers, McCain agreed to drop a provision that would have protected individual corporate officers and directors. The legislation would have no impact on personal-injury cases and would expire within three years.

But the White House, key Democrats and consumer groups complained it still went too far. ``Senators had the chance to make a bad bill better, but most of them caved in to pressure from the industry,'' Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union said.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), June 16, 1999.

Its been clear for a long while that the president AND congress have betrayed the country - maybe in other ways but at least by their self- centered political CMA actions.

The appropriations bills - Clinton asked for 6 billion foe Kosovo, so they added 6 more billion in pork, they lie constantly, ...........

Well, you know what they do. The good ones are few. Its the main reason (apart from the US public in general apathy, immorality) that we're in so much trouble in so many areas.

They don't deserve office, but "we" elected them!

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa..net), June 16, 1999.

Look, the ONLY people who will win in a Y2k lawsuit frenzy will be the LAWYERS. The real injured parties will get pennies, while already damaged companies could be pushed over the edge financially by a blizzard of litigation. There has to be a better way.

-- kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), June 16, 1999.

There is a better way. All they have to do is fix the y2k problems.

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), June 16, 1999.

Ooops, we put some articles about this on the wrong thread, did a search for "lawsuit" but couldn't find; see

Cost of Y2K fix for government rises to $8 billion

There's a $$-vote rundown on there.

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 16, 1999.

Hey, Mike!

THE REPUBLIC IS DEAD; LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC

-- Jim the Window Washer (Rational@man.com), June 16, 1999.

Interesting comments on this legislation by Leon Kappelman, North Texas State University can be heard on "RealAudio" at Ed Yardeni's 200 day conference http://y2kactionday.com/

-- marsh (marsh@sisqtel.net), June 17, 1999.