A View From The Press Box

One of my longtime blog readers, who goes by the classic nom de plum “Joe Skeptical” in his frequent responses to my musings, actually posted a poem this week in the comment section of our July 27 article about AIG’s property and casualty insurers rebranding yet again–this time reborn as “Chartis.” I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one of our readers driven to poetry to express his views! I post the poem below for your reading pleasure: Read the rest of this entry »

I was skeptical when my friend Milton insisted that none of the key elements of health care reform legislation would take effect for four years, thus rendering moot the charge by critics that coverage mandates would overburden businesses recovering from the current recession. Turns out Milton was right! That lag time should dramatically change the debate, except no one seems to know about this. Read the rest of this entry »

Watching President Barack Obama’s press conference on health care reform the other night, I was not surprised that little was said about the mandates being proposed in Congress–requiring employers to offer coverage or pay a penalty, and requiring that everyone buy coverage. That was no doubt because the word “mandates” scares many and infuriates some, and could end up sinking the whole initiative–although I don’t understand what everyone is so worked up about. Read the rest of this entry »

NU Associate Editor Mark E. Ruquet had a front-row seat for most of the trial pitting AIG versus its former CEO, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, in a battle of the titans over a deferred compensation program. The way Mark sees it, the quick jury verdict shows this case came down to a matter of trust–as well as the lack of a “smoking gun” by the plaintiffs. Read on for his inside account and take on the trial. Read the rest of this entry »