Yahoo! News - GOP Considers Eliminating MTBE Provision
: "Put together in more than two months of closed-door negotiations between House and Senate Republicans, the legislation would shield MTBE manufacturers from lawsuits such as the one that led to the Santa Monica settlement.

But this 'safe harbor' provision, buried in the 1,148-page bill, created an unusual coalition of Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, against the bill. "

I am curious about passing legislation to shield companies from lawsuits. Don't lawsuits perform a part of the market? If something is unsafe, that is a way to force change in the market without government intervention. But time and again, conservatives have turned to exclude gun manufacturers, and now polluters from the legal system.

I understand the frustration about baseless lawsuits and ambulance chasing lawyers, and I hate those too. But legal challenges have forced some positive changes.