Among the more random proposals in tonight's hurried State of the Union speech was a push to end "frivolous asbestos claims."

Huh?

This article sheds some light on the asbestos problem, which is serious for the companies involved. Basically, tens of thousands of people are submitting asbestos claims, and companies are unable to pay out the benefits that juries are awarding. Some of the country's biggest companies, like Dow Chemicals and General Electric, are at risk. But it hardly constitutes a nationwide crisis of the magnitude of, say, medical malpractice.

More importantly, these claims are not frivolous. If you get enough asbestos in your lungs, you have a great chance of dying. These companies have known that asbestos is toxic for decades. In New Mexico, the state legislature passed a law in the 1950s that effectively made it impossible to collect an asbestosis claim by setting up unrealistic time limits on when the disease had to manifest itself. That indicates that someone back then was worried about workers dying of asbestosis.

One of our state representatives died this year from mesothelioma, a cancer caused by certain types of asbestos exposure. He worked at a national lab. He had absolutely no recourse or claim against the federal government, and his widow gets nothing.

Should congress tackle the issue? Sure. Massive bankruptcies, even if they are caused by a company's criminal negligence, rarely benefit the common good. But our president isn't helping solve anything by denigrating today's sufferers and calling their claims frivolous.