It's Pity Party Time

Poor Ed Liddy... apparently by criticizing his statements, we little people hurt his feelings. Douglas A. McIntyre chastises us,

Liddy had committed one unpardonable sin, or at least that was the story that several members of Congress wanted to believe. He had agreed to previously planned bonuses for AIG employees who worked in the part of the company that had created many of the insurance firm's losses. Liddy was clear in making the point that AIG had a legal obligation to make the payments. He would have been better off to hold his tongue. The minute he gave an explanation for his actions, no matter how rational it was, his interrogators seized on it as another act of either bad faith or stupidity on his part.

Well, gosh... there you have it. So what can I really say, but this: "Mr. Liddy, I'm so sorry that when you, an insurance company executive and former CEO of Allstate, started lecturing the country on the sanctity and inviolability of contracts, I didn't thank you for telling me that it was raining."

Update: Jane Hamsher takes on the various "factual" assertions in McIntyre's editorial.

Edward Liddy Was CEO of Allstate?

That's rich. The former CEO of Allstate lecturing people on contract rights as inviolable?

Allstate ranks as the worst insurer for consumers, according to a comprehensive investigation of thousands of legal documents and financial filings.

The rankings show a distinct pattern of insurance industry greed amongst 10 companies that refuse to pay just claims, employ hardball tactics against policyholders, reward executives with extravagant salaries, and raise premiums while hoarding excessive profits.

"While Allstate publicly touts its 'good hands' approach, it has instead privately instructed its agents to employ a 'boxing gloves' strategy against its policyholders," said American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber. "Allstate ducks, bobs and weaves to avoid paying claims to increase its profits."

Allstate set the standard for insurance company greed and placing profits over policyholders. Allstate contracted with consulting giant McKinsey & Co. in the mid-1990s to systematically force consumers to accept lowball claims or face its "boxing gloves," an aggressive strategy designed to deny claims at any cost. One Allstate employee reported that supervisors told agents to lie and blame fires on arson, and in turn, were rewarded with portable fridges.

Thousands of court documents, materials uncovered from litigation and discovery, testimony, complaints filed with state insurance departments, SEC and FBI records, and news accounts were reviewed to compile the rankings and statistics.

Hey - I know. Liddy wouldn't have approved the portable fridges as bonuses had he known about them beforehand, but a contract's a contract.