BUT WE THOUGHT WE COULD WORK WITH THE DEMOCRATS...:

House Dems Blitz Insurers With Demands for Data on Profits, Perks (John Reichard, 8/19/09, CQ)

Three key Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have launched a barrage of letters targeting dozens of insurers with requests for information on salaries, board compensation, entertainment expenses and profits in what industry sources describe as an attempt at intimidation. [...]

Insurers fired back at the salvo, saying Democrats are trying to beat back their attempts to prevent Congress from including a government-run insurance plan in insurance exchanges that would be created by health overhaul legislation.

“This is a politically motivated, taxpayer-financed fishing expedition designed to silence the health insurance industry and distract attention away from the fact that the American people are rejecting a government-run insurance plan,” said America’s Health Insurance Plans spokesman Robert Zirkelbach.

One health care lobbyist described the letters as an attempt by Democrats to warn the industry against broadening its current campaign favoring an overhaul but opposing a public plan. The attempt is to prevent behind-the-scenes efforts to torpedo a health overhaul generally, the lobbyist said, adding that the industry really doesn’t want an overhaul at all.