Dems ready to give insurers big break

You know how, on things such as environmental regulation, prescription drug regulation, etc., over the past decade-plus, the Congressional GOP has shown how it can throw its states-rights mantra in the Dumpster at a moment’s notice, if having laxer federal regulation will legally trump and pre-empt tougher state laws?

Well now, in the case of the insurance industry, Congressional Democrats are ready and willing to play the same game.

The idea of simplicity in regulation is a legitimately attractive one, I’ll not argue that. But, the idea of using that idea to water down regulation, rather than toughening it — especially when an insurance company, AIG, is at the heart of the current financial sector clusterfuck — is simply ridiculous.

If not horrific.

Let’s look at the recent salmonella crisis in peanuts.

The federal government had nowhere near enough agents hired to do a proper regulatory job. So, it co-opted state departments of agriculture. But, many of them were understaffed, undertrained or both.

And, as with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s “stress tests” for banks, smaller companies worry that this is something else being done at the behest of big boys.

And, given campaign finance issues — President Opt-Out, Barack Obama, took $2.2 mil from insurers last year, and many Congressional Dems took big insurance bucks, too — this bill will get traction.

Vote Green!