Posted by
Disgruntled in NY on Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:28:34 PM
Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) have asked 52 heath insurers to provide information about the compensation received those of their employees and officers who were paid more than $500,000 in any of the last five years. See report here. It is remarkable that they are using their broad powers (and an implicit threat of a subpoena) to get information that is not otherwise publicly available. It is also remarkable that they have the chutzpah to require the companies to respond to their requests within four weeks.
To the extent the request applies to officers who are "named executive officers" of public companies, the requested information is readily available (and is already public, so they do not need to ask for it). To the extent the request applies to non-public companies and to other officers and employees whose compensation is not otherwise publicly-disclosed, this request is very broad and I would be surprised if the recipients of the letter could respond in the requested time period (particularly if the request applies to lots of the recipient's employees).
By the very nature of the request, it is clear that Messrs. Waxman and Stupak do not understand (or, perhaps, care) about the burden their fishing expedition will impose on the recipients of the letter. I would also expect that the next battle in the healthcare debate will be the "battle of the greedy executives" and that the letter is the first salvo in that battle. I think they are going to try to use the information they collect to create more villains and wage the class war that so many on the left (including Mr. Rangel) have been spoiling for since November.