Pelosi's old pol self-centered style
During the market trading day Nancy Pelosi suggested that there was House support for a windfall profits tax on insurance companies. Therefore in a market rally insurers fell 7% within the hour and big cap financials all dropped off gains and receded into negative land. If a corporation would decide to give market moving news mid-day Reg FD rules would apply, and the SEC would be on the case. Members of Congress are not subject to this protocol or ethical behavior and those like Pelosi delight in the evidence of their power.
A windfall profits tax is not unprecedented but it's been a long time. In a global economy it will drive away investment. Companies that have followed all accounting rules and broken no laws are assessed because they were profitable. That makes no sense to most market participants. The laws under which the insurers are operating, and to some extent they are poor and porous, were agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans alike at federal and importantly state levels, and the insurance companies are not in question as to fraud or malfeasance in some way or an illegal scam(scams in some sense are there but not illegal, ignored by politicians and regulators). The windfall profits proposal is, by some, justified because even though companies followed the rules they made money.
Change the rules. That's what all of this health care debate is about. Dems talked about this windfall profits tax during the last election related to energy companies. Take resposibility and change the rules. We all know that insurance companies are there to make large amounts of money and that they are not public servants. Who in their right mind doesn't already know this.
When Pelosi independently raises a windfall profits tax she threatens all industries. Today she also front-loaded the House suggestion of extending the credit for new home buyers earlier in the day leading to a 6% jump in housing stocks. This may be a good move but why not share credit with others. She is completely partisan and malisciously savvy about or ignorant of comments during market hours.
One thing is a fact. She goes out of her way to promote herself and make her Republican colleagues more irate than ever. She continues to undercut President Obama's efforts.
A windfall profits tax is not unprecedented but it's been a long time. In a global economy it will drive away investment. Companies that have followed all accounting rules and broken no laws are assessed because they were profitable. That makes no sense to most market participants. The laws under which the insurers are operating, and to some extent they are poor and porous, were agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans alike at federal and importantly state levels, and the insurance companies are not in question as to fraud or malfeasance in some way or an illegal scam(scams in some sense are there but not illegal, ignored by politicians and regulators). The windfall profits proposal is, by some, justified because even though companies followed the rules they made money.
Change the rules. That's what all of this health care debate is about. Dems talked about this windfall profits tax during the last election related to energy companies. Take resposibility and change the rules. We all know that insurance companies are there to make large amounts of money and that they are not public servants. Who in their right mind doesn't already know this.
When Pelosi independently raises a windfall profits tax she threatens all industries. Today she also front-loaded the House suggestion of extending the credit for new home buyers earlier in the day leading to a 6% jump in housing stocks. This may be a good move but why not share credit with others. She is completely partisan and malisciously savvy about or ignorant of comments during market hours.
One thing is a fact. She goes out of her way to promote herself and make her Republican colleagues more irate than ever. She continues to undercut President Obama's efforts.
posted by John Borden at 11:23 PM
1 Comments:
You sure don't like Nancy Pelosi. She is a Democrat who hasn't given up on old style Democratic principles. How they are achieved is not her problem, she goes at it with intensity and she is to be admired. The Republicans will never come around in this completely divided country so why pander to them. Obama could learn from Pelosi.
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