Bullying Mr. Causey

Mike Causey

Mike Causey might be needing a safe space really soon.   He was one of the big reasons Republicans had to celebrate last month.  After years and years of perseverance, Republican Causey knocked off an incumbent Democrat state insurance commissioner.

Causey campaigned on some pretty good ideas — like getting rid of the good-ol-boy Rate Bureau and breaking things open so there will be more competition, more choices, and better pricing in the state’s market.  Stuff like that is not sitting so well with the cronies and politicos who had all kinds of sweet inside deals with the outgoing commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

We hear Speaker Timmy and some of his peeps have been leaning extra special hard on Causey to ensure he doesn’t rock the boat too much over at the Department of Insurance. Too many players are worried about losing the special access and deals they’ve enjoyed under the Goodwin regime. Causey is a soft-spoken, nice guy who one can imagine would be quite easy to push around.

“Speaking” of ‘Bully Bait’ …

Why would Speaker Timmy be working against the new Republican commissioner?  We learned earlier that a sketchy Democrat lobbyist tied to Goodwin was allowed by leadership to influence the selection of House committee chairmen. Perhaps some of the same folks getting sweetheart deals from Goodwin have also been getting them from Speaker Timmy?