Admit it. All of you in the insurance industry who have had your lives turned upside down by probes into contingency fees or finite reinsurance by Eliot Spitzer when he was New York's attorney general, can't help but snicker about the "Choppergate" scandal that has sent the approval rates of Gov. Spitzer plummeting. But while the cocky crusader has been struggling to swallow a taste of his own medicine, there's no doubt he will bounce back soon--which is actually good news for the state's insurance market.
For those of you not keeping track of New York State's murky political battles, Gov. Spitzer--kept in check only by the long-time leader of the Senate, Republican Joe Bruno--was the victim of a smear campaign by Spitzer minions, who clumsily tried to undermine the Senate majority leader with allegations that he improperly used state aircraft for political purposes. Not only was this not true, but to get the "evidence" and leak it to the press, Gov. Spitzer's staff manipulated the state police and freedom of information laws.
Gov. Spitzer--who insists he knew nothing about this idiotic scheme--is learning the hard way that governing a state is a lot harder than being a dictatorial prosecutor. It must be killing the Sheriff of Wall Street to see his methods, honesty and integrity challenged, and his name turning to mud in the media.
But this, too, shall pass. While I think Gov. Spitzer should have reacted far more decisively by firing those responsible and moving on, perhaps he'll learn a lesson about how to more effectively run his office.
In any case, thus far, with Eric Dinallo at the helm as insurance superintendent, the Spitzer Administration has moved swiftly to tackle two of New York's biggest commercial coverage issues--workers' comp, where reforms led to rate cuts of 20.5 percent, and medical malpractice, where Mr. Dinallo was tapped to head a new task force to turn that troubled market around as well after approving a 14 percent increase.
The governor also helped break a logjam and close a $2 billion settlement for World Trade Center property claims. And he named the insurance superintendent to head up a comprehensive review of how all financial services are regulated in the Empire State.
Gov. Spitzer will make mistakes--he is brilliant, but inexperienced at governing. Indeed, democracy seems to be a foreign concept to him at times.
But he is also dynamic, devoted and focused. It won't be long before his laser beam attention span burns through the Bruno fiasco so he can get his ambitious reform agenda back on course.
For a change, that could be good news for insurers.
What do you folks think?