Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
The cockroaches are always afraid of the light. Nothing is being done that hinders anyone's First Amendment right.


Associated Press:
  • The government is investigating a major insurance company for allegedly trying to scare seniors with a mailer warning they could lose important benefits under health care legislation in Congress.

    The Health and Human Services Department launched its investigation of Humana after getting a complaint from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a senior lawmaker usually viewed as a reliable ally of the insurance industry.

    "It is wholly unacceptable for insurance companies to mislead seniors regarding any subject--particularly on a subject as important to them, and to the nation, as health care reform," Baucus said Monday, disclosing the HHS investigation. . . .

    In a warning letter to Humana, HHS said the government is concerned that the mailer "is misleading and confusing" partly because the company's lobbying campaign could be mistaken for an official communication about Medicare benefits.

    HHS ordered the company to immediately halt any such mailings, and remove any related materials from its Web site. In the letter, the government also said it may take other action against Humana.


Sort of proves what many of us feared when the White House started their web site to report "untrue" statements about socialized medicine, namely, that the government would go after the people who disagreed with "the One."

Now of course, the government has considerable authority to regulate commercial speech to make sure it is not "misleading and confusing," but the this mailing sounds political. Misleading and confusing political speech (which Zick has claimed is common among politicians, including this president) is protected by the First Amendment.

If the government can start investigating people or organizations that oppose its policies under the guise of saying "they are inaccurate" any president would have carte blanche to target anyone who has a different opinion than that administration.