this will be the next thing to blow up in the faces of the congressional dems. aside from the flat fact that it's an abuse of power designed to intimidate an industry that the liberals want to nationalize, it's also just plan bad politics. people are going to be scratching their heads over the kinds of things that enrage the likes of henry waxman.
go for it. hold the hearings. it will enhance the republicans' chance of retaking congress in the midterms. the more face time and media coverage that people like henry waxman get, the more alienated the general public will become.
Here is a
past discussion of this topic here at Stink-Eye
Democrats divided over Waxman's plan to grill insurance executivesDemocrats are split over Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) plan to hold high-profile hearings to pressure the insurance industry.
Some are convinced that additional attacks will help drum up the public support necessary to carry reform across the finish line.
“It’s completely fair to talk about profits and reserves and compensation and how they make their decisions,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a leader of the Progressive Caucus. “Let them come and make their case.”
Schakowsky leads a caucus that has fought for a public option to compete with the private insurers, and she said she hoped an executive compensation hearing would have the same impact as last year’s hearings examining the salaries of top oil company executives during the height of the gas crisis.
Other Democrats aren’t sure grilling insurance executives is the best strategy. They argue it could complicate the narrative that Democrats should be writing, which is that reforming healthcare involves much more than insurance reforms.
More 
