When I voted today, I felt a little like I was in the old Soviet Union, and not just because my Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn neighborhood is dominated by Russian immigrants. When looking over the ballot, I saw my congresssman and state senator running unopposed, and my state assemblyman running on BOTH the Democratic and Republican tickets. Of course, at the top of the ticket, I at least theoretically had a choice, although in reality the campaigns were long since decided–with no serious opposition facing Eliot Spitzer in his quest for the governorship, or Senator Hillary Clinton in her reelection bid. With a heavy heart, however, I cast my vote for the insurance industry's nemesis, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
There is no doubt Mr. Spitzer is a bully. (Which prosecutor isn't?) There is no doubt he abused his authority and used the media shamelessly as a club to browbeat targets into settlements.
However, there is also no doubt that he uncovered serious wrongdoing, not only in the insurance industry (catching big brokers and carriers red-handed in bid-rigging and contingency fee abuse), but earlier on exposing outrageous anti-consumer behavior by the mutual fund business and the investment banking community.
Mr. Spitzer claims his idol is Theodore Roosevelt–a Republican who earned the wrath of the powerful business community with his trust-busting ways. Teddy believed that if big business failed to play by the rules, if they were allowed to take advantage of the public, support for the free market would be undermined and voters would demand more radical changes than merely stronger regulations. He wanted to establish the credibility of the government in guaranteeing a level playing field. If that's how he runs his office, I can support that.
I also am counting on him to shake up the moribund political system in Albany and make the state government a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. It won't be easy, since as a prosecutor he had a lot more dictatorial power at his disposal, and didn't have to compromise often to get what he wanted, as he'll have to do in Albany. But I hope he follows the example of two Republicans I voted for in the past for mayor of New York–fellow former prosecutor Rudy Guiliani and current Mayor Mike Bloomberg–in forcing good government onto a very self-interested, self-perpetuating political system.
Mr. Spitzer certainly will make life interesting for the insurance community, since he will be the one picking New York's next insurance superintendent–someone no doubt far less friendly to the business than its current occupant. But if insurers and producers run their business honestly, they shouldn't have anything to fear.
Whether a similar shakeup takes place nationally, putting Democrats in charge of at least one house of Congress, is far less certain given that politicians have gerrymandered so many “safe” districts, it's almost impossible for the will of the people to be heard in this country anymore.
Still, despite these formidable procedural obstacles, if the Democrats don't make big gains this year, when everyone is reportedly so fed up about the war in Iraq, when could they? It's now or never for the Democrats in Congress.
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