Bob Taft traveled to a small metal fabricating firm outside of Columbus last week. His mission? The governor put his signature on Senate Bill 80, a sweeping overhaul of the personal injury lawsuit system in the state. Taft gushed about the measure, arguing that ``lawsuit reform is a cornerstone of our job creation agenda.'' He wasn't kidding.

Admittedly, the new law isn't as troubling as originally conceived. A cornerstone of job creation? The governor overstates the likely impact. Ask just about any economist or corporate executive, and if they choose to be frank, they'll acknowledge that so-called tort reform ranks relatively low on the list of factors contributing to an improved business climate. They will first highlight, among other things, an updated tax code, flourishing institutions of higher education, sound primary and secondary schools, plus a more efficient and effective government.

We've watched with admiration the many people who have made contributions to relief agencies seeking to assist the victims of the tsunami that devasted so much of South Asia, even Africa. The outpouring of generosity has been curious in one respect. Bob Taft and his fellow Republicans in the legislature have long crusaded for severely limiting the jury awards for those injured through the neglect of doctors and business operators.

Why such sympathy for one set of victims and so little for others? If anything, President Bush would like to outdo Taft and his colleagues. The president wants ``a hard cap of $250,000'' on jury awards for noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. (Ohio earlier restricted such awards.)

On Wednesday, Bush traveled to Madison County, Ill., a ``judicial hellhole,'' according to advocates of limits on personal injury lawsuits. He condemned ``junk lawsuits,'' lamenting their detrimental effect on the economy. Frivolous lawsuits hardly enjoy wide popularity. They should be discouraged more aggressively. That shouldn't be achieved at the expense of true victims -- setting an arbitrary limit, casting aside the particular facts of a case.

Interestingly, a panel of experts put together by the Bush White House advised last week that more effective disciplining of incompetent doctors would significantly ease the problem of medical malpractice litigation. Yet the president said nothing about such an approach. The travails of fine doctors are real. Addressing their problem shouldn't involve punishing those who are already victims.