California leads the way!

California leads the way!  In finding new ways to steal money from companies hold companies liable for things they didn't do wrong. 

The short version: decades ago, several companies sold a product that was not only legal and believed to be harmless, it was a product that our government actively encouraged people to use (because it aided in keeping our homes germ-free).  Many years later, scientists discovered that the product could be harmful under certain circumstances.  Now a California court has held that those companies that have survived will have to pay billions of dollars to remove this product from the homes in which it was used.  In other words, these companies are being told that they must bear the cost of removing a product that was legal and government-sponsored when it was sold.  This ruling will also open the door to nearly unlimited liability suits, too – just as happened with a very similar product (asbestos) and eventually bankrupted almost every company that ever even looked at asbestos.

The product this time is lead paint, and the risk comes from children who ate paint chips...