[Rhodes22-list] Proximate Cause -

[Bill Effros]

Wally,

Not intended as a dodge.  That was what I meant in the previous post, 
reduced to legal terms.  It is at the center of what we are discussing.  
If the hurricane did the damage, commercial insurers must pay.  If the 
hurricane damaged federally maintained levees, and the damage was due to 
subsequent flooding, then the Federal Government will pay--meaning you 
and me.

President Bush has as much as admitted that most of the damage was due 
to levee failure (and I think we knew that, already) and therefore, the 
Federal Government will pay.  This is not in the same category as 
rebuilding beach houses that are blown down by hurricanes, and we 
taxpayers are not in the same position to debate whether or not New 
Orleans should be rebuilt at our expense.

When the auto pumps hit $3.00 a gallon the power traffic around here 
dropped markedly.  Around here the auto pumps hit $3.00 a gallon a while 
ago.  I don't know what the marine pumps are charging because I just 
don't need one.  You should hear those guys talking about only filling 
their tanks 1/2 way, and running up a $1000 bill.  Music to my ears.  
Even the big sailboats aren't going out as much when there's no wind.

Bill Effros



Wally Buck wrote:

> Bill, Nice dodge. No I am not joining the legal argument of who gets 
> to sue whom. Seems to me you are changing what you said in previous 
> post. You made no mention of Proximate cause. I can't debate a moving 
> target. Re-read your post.
>
> We had a nice sail yesterday and enjoyed a beautiful full moon rise. 
> Winds could have been better but the power boat traffic is already 
> dropping.
>
> Fair Winds,
>
> Wally
>
>> From: Bill Effros <bill at effros.com>
>> Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Proximate Cause
>> Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 09:34:20 -0400
>>
>> Wally,
>>
>> You have joined the fascinating legal argument regarding "proximate 
>> cause".  Who gets to sue who about what.  How far back can you look 
>> to say what caused an injury.  We will be hearing a lot about it.  
>> The insurance companies will say the Federal Government didn't build 
>> the levees well enough, and people whose homes were flooded are not 
>> entitled to hurricane damage compensation because the hurricane did 
>> not cause the damage.  The Federal Government will say the hurricane 
>> was the proximate cause of the damage, and the insurance companies 
>> should pay.  The fact that the Federal Government didn't even know 
>> their levees had been breached after the hurricane will weaken the 
>> Federal Case.
>>
>> Somebody will pay.  Who do you think it should or will be?
>>
>> The same issues were hashed out regarding proximate cause with regard 
>> to the World Trade Center.
>>
>> Interestingly, one of the famous proximate cause precedents involves 
>> boats:
>>
>> "In the two famous /Kinsman Transit/ cases from the 2nd Circuit 
>> (exercising admiralty 
>> <http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Admiralty&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1> 
>> jurisdiction over a New York incident), it was clear that mooring a 
>> boat improperly could lead to the risk of a boat drifting away and 
>> crashing into another boat, and that both boats could crash into a 
>> bridge, which collapsed and blocked the river, and in turn, the 
>> wreckage could flood the land adjacent to the river, as well as 
>> prevent any traffic from traversing the river until it had been 
>> cleared. But under proximate cause, the property owners adjacent to 
>> the river could sue (/Kinsman I/), but not the owners of the boats or 
>> the cargoes which could not move until the river was reopened 
>> (/Kinsman II/)."
>>
>> So how would you call it?
>>
>> Bill Effros
>>
>> Wally Buck wrote:
>>
>>>> The Hurricane did not breach the levee in New Orleans, and the 
>>>> airplanes hitting the World Trade Center did not cause the towers 
>>>> to collapse.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bill,
>>>
>>> OK, if you say so .....
>>>
>>>
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