Dear Attorney General Cooper:

You should investigate my actions as a policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation regarding the health insurance overhaul being debated in Congress. I hope your stamp of approval for my policy recommendations might make them more acceptable to members of the state legislature and of Congress.

Twenty legislators sent a letter to you and Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin in a blatant attempt to keep Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina from exercising its Constitutional right to participate in public debate. Taking their cue from the White House snitch line and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services silencing of Humana, these bullying legislators wrote:

Even if there is no apparent violation of existing statutes, we think this is bad public policy that deserves further scrutiny.

“Bad public policy” is a remarkable standard for legislators to offer as a basis for criminal investigation given some of the laws they have sponsored and passed. Many taxpayers may think it is not a good use of their money for legislators to harass private companies who disagree with proposed legislation.

If you decide to scrutinize groups or individuals based on bad public policy, instead of acting as a seal of approval for good policy, you might want to fix your attention on these legislators and their cohorts who voted to raise taxes by a billion dollars a year, raise the cost of electricity by $1.8 billion through 2021, and generally make the state a more expensive place to live and work.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Joseph Coletti