Story: Legal bills drain money from public coffers: $100 million paid to attorneys in past 5 years:
Lawyer bills ate up close to $100 million in local tax dollars over the past five years in the five-county metro area, and legal spending by municipalities is on the rise, a Journal Sentinel analysis shows.
Of course, the Journal-Sentinel wants to point the finger at greedy lawyers who suck up all that public money. Personally, since the Journal-Sentinel tends to like spending public money and suing your way to justice or retribution, I find it disingenuous that the paper makes an issue of the combination. But it does.
You want to know what really burns up the people’s money when it comes to legal expenses? Governments suing governments, whether municipalities suing each other, local governments suing regional governments, state governments suing the federal government, or peer agencies suing each other. Such as:
- States Sue Bush Administration for Failing Consumers on Energy Standards
- Attorney General Lautenschlager Seeks Authority to File Suit Against FDA Over Delays in Approval of OTC Emergency Contraceptive
- ATTORNEY GENERAL PEG LAUTENSCHLAGER ANNOUNCES STATES SUE EPA FOR VIOLATING CLEAN AIR ACT AND REFUSAL TO TAKE ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING
- State to File Environmental Lawsuit Against Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and Twenty-Nine “Satellite” Communities for Sewer Overflows During 2004
- States Sue HUD Over Pesticide Use in Public Housing
- Lautenschlager Announces States Sue Federal Government to Protect Clean Air Act
- RICHFIELD JOINS MINNEAPOLIS, EAGAN IN AIRPORT LAWSUIT
- Nixon sues to stop giveaway of state interest in MKT bridge; says viability of Katy Trail too important to risk
Nah, that’s not wasting the people’s money on legal fees. Not if there’s a chance for a higher office for the right-thinking sort of person involved.