September 5, 2008
Dear Mr. Cox,
I writing to you as a fellow South Orange Countian, which at one time you were and represented us with a distinguished record. Apparently, since you have left the West Coast and moved Eastward, the humidity and other seasonal changes have affected your thinking process and whatsmore your judgement as a whole. The proposal that you are considering regarding Indexed Annuities is so fraught with inconsistencies and ludicrous innuendos I am quite frankly ashamed that you would even entertain such a significant change in the securities laws especially during a time of such economic downturn which has been largely orchestrated by Wall Street as a whole. It would seem to me that you would be better served continuing to prosecute the perpetrators of Enron, Tyco and Global Crossing as well as the hedge fund guru's who have put us into economic chaos in the real estate market. These affect the consumer far greater nationally than attacking an industry that can stand alone as the backstop of the American economy for generations past and yes in the future. For without the insurance industry can you imagine how large the dole would be in this country? The welfare roles would be staggering if it were not for the timely delivery of insurance assets when they are most needed, when someone who executed the contract is not there to see the distribution of the assets but entered into a trustful relationship via the efforts of dare I say it, oh my, an insurance salesman??? Yes, and for all of those agents who have persevered and given the best of their lives, sitting at the kitchen tables of America, over these many generations of Americans who have purchased these products and who now lie in droves in cemeteries across this great land, I dare say that they would rise up out of their graves and march on Washington, DC if they were able to learn of the travesty that you are attempting to commit against one of the most trusted industries in the history of this country. Mr. Cox, do you REALLY know the difference between an insurance agent and a stockbroker? When you find the true answer to that question, you will discover you no longer have any reason to pursue this quest to punish the wrong party.