The People’s Commissar, Henry Waxman Set To Bully Companies

What do they expect to gain from this? Do they think they’ll look like they’re standing up to big business to protect “the little guy”? The Dem Socialists’ policies are ruinous to everyone.

This past week several big companies, including Caterpillar, Verizon, and AT&T, announced that ObamaCare would cost them millions of dollars this year. To pay for it they variously suggested layoffs and benefits reductions. Analysts suggest that the total first-quarter hit to S&P 500 firms will be $4.5 billion.

Democrats can’t stand to have their precious economy-destroying healthcare program criticized in its very first week, so they’ve announced an “investigation” into the claims. Late yesterday, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation sent letters to the CEOs of AT&T, Caterpillar, Deere & Co, and Verizon asking them to appear for a hearing on their claims. In the letters, Waxman and Stupak ask for company documents including accounting analyses and the internal emails of all “senior company officials” related to the projected costs of ObamaCare. How serious are they? The letter actually defines “senior company officials.”

Andrew McCarthy noted:

People’s Commissar Henry Waxman is now planning to haul the companies before his committee because their disclosures fail to play along with the our Leftist rulers’ script that

Obamacare “will expand coverage and bring down costs.”

As the Journal’s editors observe:

“Black-letter financial accounting rules require that corporations immediately restate their earnings to reflect the present value of their long-term health liabilities, including a higher tax burden. Should these companies have played chicken with the Securities and Exchange Commission to avoid this politically inconvenient reality? Democrats don’t like what their bill is doing in the real world, so they now want to intimidate CEOs into keeping quiet.”

If we are now under a system where disclosure gets you a public whipping and other threats by the Powers That Be while nondisclosure promises the ruinous expenses of defending against criminal investigations and civil enforcement, this is no longer anything but a thugocracy.

”Thugocracy” is putting it nicely.

Photoshop inspired by Mike Noel at Cold Fury:

Herr Vaxman: “You VILL report to zee Ministry of Truth…at VUNCE!”

Herr Vaxman’s Ministry of Truth (Part Zwei)

MORE:

Some snarkage from Dan Riehl:

Waxman To Call For Hearings On Florida Citizens

I don’t know how much of the state they’ll be able to get into the hearing room. But as the citizens of Florida clearly strayed from the Leftist talking points on ObamaCare in this new poll, I think only a Congressional investigation can get to the bottom of this conspiracy!

UPDATE:

AoSHQ: Get In Their Faces: Administration Lashes Out at John Deere, Caterpillar For Accurately Reporting Their Finances

On Friday White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett were calling the CEOs and Washington office heads of the companies that took the financial hits and attacked them for doing so. One Washington office head said that the White House calls were accusatory and “downright rude.”

Ace correctly notes:

A year ago, Obama threatened to call out executives who kicked up a fuss over his policies. But he had a hell of a lot more political juice, then. I don’t think CEOs are particularly frightened now at being called out by an unpopular president.

Remember this from May ’09, when an Obama surrogate, Steven Rattner threatened Chrysler non-Tarp investment companies?

Confronting the head of a non-TARP fund holding Chrysler debt and unwilling to release it for any sum less than that to which it was legally entitled without compelling cause, this country’s “Car Czar” berated the manager of said fund with an outburst of prose substantially resembling this:

Who the f*** do you think you’re dealing with? We’ll have the IRS audit your fund. Every one of your employees. Your investors. Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with.

You think anything like that is going on with these CEOS?

Linked by Michelle Malkin, Cold Fury and Gay Patriot, thanks!