Monday, April 07, 2008

Why is Republican Steve Stivers supporting and working with insurance lobbyists????

Republican Rep. Steve Stivers, former bank lobbyist and current Republican candidate for Ohio's 15th congressional district, seems to be very friendly with the largest and most powerful insurance lobby in the country. NCOIL.org (National Conference of Insurance Legislators) is part of an insurance lobbying firm that (from NCOIL website) works against insurance regulation:

The purpose of NCOIL is to help legislators make informed decisions on insurance issues that affect their constituents and to declare opposition to federal encroachment of state authority to oversee the business of insurance...
...
Many legislators active in NCOIL chair or are members of the committees responsible for insurance in their respective state houses across the country.....

Stivers is a voting member of the Executive committee, along with Ohio Republicans William Batchelder, Keith Faber, and Jay Hottinger.

Here is how Common Dreams described the insurance lobby and NCOIL:

....The insurance lobby has picked a battleground that is inaccessible to most consumer advocates and concerned citizens. Rather than debating the merits of deregulation in Congress or the state capitals nationwide, the insurance lobby has taken its plans to two private forums: the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the National Conference of Insurance Legislators. The NAIC, an association of state regulators, is heavily influenced by the insurance industry. The NCOIL membership consists of state legislators who often side with the insurance industry in state legislatures.

The NAIC and NCOIL are cozy clubs where insurance lobbyists and the public officials they control meet without being bothered by the inefficiencies of democratic government. Both organizations like to hold their meetings in high-class hotels. State officials can afford to be there because their expenses are subsidized, or paid for outright, by the insurance lobbyists' attendance fees. Hospitality suites abound for the regulators. And, there is no shortage of insurance industry lobbyists wanting to treat the regulators to fine dinners....

Steve Stivers is not only a former bank lobbyist who sides with banks/lenders but also best friends with insurance companies and insurance lobbyists! Does Stivers work for the people in his district or just banks and insurance companies????

Visit Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy's website and help her defeat a lobbyist's best friend, Stivers.