February 20, 2007, 1:21 pm

First, Mississippi regulated flood insurance rates down to a level that it was impossible to make money, so State Farm's property coverage on the coast did not cover flood/storm damage. Then, after Katrina, Dickie Scruggs and company sued State Farm, and others, forcing them to cover storm damage from Katrina that their policies explicitly did not cover and were not priced to cover. So, facing a state government that, by fiat, forces their fees lower and their coverage higher, State Farm is trying to exit the property insurance business in Mississippi, and the state legislature is considering legislation to prevent them from leaving.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Friday he will seek

legislation aimed at blocking State Farm Insurance Cos. from refusing

to write new homeowners and commercial policies in the

hurricane-battered state. Hood's plan would require any company

that writes automobile insurance in Mississippi and also writes

homeowners policies in other states to offer homeowners and commercial

properties throughout Mississippi.... Hood also said he his urging Gov. Haley Barbour to issue an executive

order that would force the insurer to continue writing new policies

until the Mississippi Legislature can deal with the issue.

Quoting from directive 10-289 (Atlas Shrugged):

Point Two: All industrial, commercial, manufacturing, and business

establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in

operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit, nor

leave, nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under

penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any or all

their property.

So I ask you, is the following statement ridiculous over-the-top regulator-speak from Atlas Shrugged, or was it actually made by a US state AG?

"We're looking at a robber baron in the face that is trying to make an example of Mississippi," Hood said of State Farm.

OK, so lets see: The state government decides what rates you can charge. The state government decides what your policy has to cover. The state government decides if you will be allowed to go out of business. But State Farm is the robber baron. LOL.

Hat tip: Tom Kirkendall