Cornell law professor Douglas Kysar is still in tantrum mode two weeks after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Rep. Ric Keller’s (R-FL) “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act.” Keller’s bill would protect food providers from frivolous obesity lawsuits. In yesterday’s Orlando Sentinel, Kysar made light of the role that personal responsibility plays in the dietary choices of Americans and claimed Keller’s bill was unnecessary and a waste of time. In today’s Sentinel, Keller sets Kysar straight — and offers him a bit of choice dietary advice:
“Professor Kysar should eat his words, and the rest of us can eat our cheeseburgers.”
Keller points out that the words and actions of Kysar’s colleague, John “Sue The Bastards” Banzhaf, are proof positive that the threat of obesity lawsuits is very real. He also notes that the vast majority of Americans are opposed to such trial-lawyer shenanigans. As for Kysar’s suggestion that Congress focus on more “weighty” matters such as unemployment, Keller serves up this argument on a platter. By protecting food companies from costly, frivolous litigation, the Personal Responsibility Act also aims to protect the 12 million jobs provided by our nation’s largest private sector employer: restaurants.
