Vermont leads race to the bottom in insurance regulation. Maybe you’ll get lucky and your insurance policy will pay off in full. By the way, house prices never fall.

Private insurers are the scorpion in the story of turtle and the scorpion. They have proven for decades they will do anything to avoid regulation, and will always put profits over the health care needs of regular Americans. Heck, by law, as for-profit corporations, they are required to put profits over everything else. Democrats let insurance companies hop on their back, and now they are smack-dab in the middle of the river with them. Don’t scream when they sting you–it is just their nature.

I believe that if the Senate health care bill passes as Joe Lieberman has demanded it — with no Medicare buy-in or public option — it will be a significant step further on our road to neo-feudalism. As such, I find it far too dangerous to our democracy to pass, even if it gives millions (perhaps unaffordable) subsidies for health care.

Thank you, Aetna, for wanting us to know. Your boldness is breathtaking and your timing is impeccable. This month, as the Senate is embroiled in heated debate over health care reform, one might expect insurance companies to be on their best behavior – the same way restaurants are when the health inspector drops by. But not you, Aetna. You don’t care how closely your policies are being scrutinized on the national stage – you still have the guts to make fearless corporate decisions.

Goldman says the “bear case” scenario — in which earnings per share for the top five insurers would decline an estimated one percent from 2010 through 2019 and the variance with current valuation is projected to be negative 36 percent. If nothing is done, they estimate stock prices will increase 47%.