Big Business and the Obama Administration at War
Posted By RichC on May 11, 2010
Who to believe … those evil capitalist insurance companies [sarcasm] trying to balance customer satisfaction while remaining competitive and profitable … or the Obama administration and congressional Democrats orchestrating leftists policies on America? Hmm … a rotten choice to be sure.- see Battle Plan below.
Read Angela Braly’s letter to President Obama
With the Obama administration openly attacking capitalism and big business, be it generalized in speeches, by seeking additional control over Wall Street or targeting the ‘state regulated’ insurance industry, it is hard to know who to believe when it comes to ‘the war of words.’ President Obama … rightly or wrongly … has pointed out that companies are making business decision based on short term decisions which handsomely reward executives. From the outside, this practice is not good for business, long term investing, employees and customers; if left uncheck by the owners (shareholders), all involved will be punished in a slow and painful way – hmm, the way free enterprise in the U.S. corrects itself. Oh … that is unless the Federal government decides to regulate, to pick winners and losers, to declares a business too big to fail using taxpayer funded bailouts or the heavy hand of Federal regulation to dictate “business wisdom.” Only politicians are smart enough to run big businesses … I’m sure they know best. [more sarcasm].
Besides targeting the Wall Street banks and oil companies, President Obama has been in the insurance reform game and is putting them, or at least one of them (presumably Wellpont) “on notice” with accusations that they are “systematically dropping coverage”… in particular coverage for women diagnosed with breast cancer. For most of us who dislike the health insurance industry bureaucracy in general anyway, its becomes which side to believe. For the less sophisticated insurance consumers there is a war of words erupting and each is stating opposite positions. In this war, the administration is moving their big government philosophy forward and picking battles with big business. They are shrewdly targeting those we all love to hate: Wall Street banks, big oil and health insurance companies.
Battle Plan
From my observation, the Obama administration’s plan is to highlight the most distasteful business practices and companies (spun as only a Chicago politician can do) in order to achieve “change” for our country – change which includes even more Federal government and more control over our lives — they might just convince Americans that all is in their best interest? Those looking at things with their eyes wide open see the political philosophy akin to European style socialism … where the bigger and more powerful bureaucracy in Washington DC administers the social and economic justice they see best for all of us.
WSJ article and Wellpoint’s CEO Angela Braly’s letter below highlight the latest in the battle to reform (change) America.
WSJ 20100510 Well Point Letter
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