Margaret Thatcher was ahead of her time when she predicted that "the problem with Cash for Clunkers is eventually it runs out of other people's money."

How true. And while I don't want to harsh on anyone's hate-fest, I really have to ask: if health insurers really have such outsized profits, why haven't competitors sprung up to snag a share of those windfalls? I mean, it's not like there are many other investment opportunities available today -- if running a health insurance company really spun off such fat returns, I'd expect start-up companies to be flooding the zone, taking a whack at the big guys, happily settling for half their exalted margins.

I asked the same question last year when everyone had their hate on about the oil companies. Much was made of the flush quarterly results they reported about this time last year. But was it enough to attract new investments and new entrants into the field? No. And that tells me the profits weren't quite what the critics made them out to be. Yeah, they are both heavily regulated (and heavily taxed) industries -- I suspect that has something to do with it. But targeting them because they made money? Nature already has a mechanism for addressing real, versus perceived, shortages. If you believed what you were saying you'd be a mensch and start a company that delivers better value at a better price. Put your money where your mouth is; stop feeding the pimp-eyed politicians.