Poizner's claims as insurance commissioner questioned

15.11.09

SACRAMENTO — As he campaigns to become California's next governor, Republican Steve Poizner often proclaims that auto and homeowner insurance rates have fallen by $1.81 billion since he took over the conditions's Department of Insurance in January 2007.

But one consumer group, which compiled statistics at the apply for of the Mercury News, argues that nearly half those reductions were the drudgery of Poizner's predecessor, Democrat John Garamendi.

And in the past year, many tidy insurers have actually raised rates after Poizner tweaked Garamendi's rules to take a run-out powder steal them more flexible.

In addition, other claims Poizner has made on the stump — namely, that he's cut his put one's faith's operating expenses by nearly 15 percent and his stick by 200 employees — don't add up as billed, according to a Mercury Scandal analysis.

Taken together, those findings raise questions about Poizner's fustian and whether he has, at times, exaggerated his achievements. And more and more, as Poizner works to shop-girl himself to voters, that record as commissioner has become the central pillar of his last-city campaign.

Source: San Jose Mercury News