Joy Ride

ON July 17, 1997—the day after the news broke of House Republicans’ failed coup against Speaker Newt Gingrich—Majority Leader Dick Armey took refuge in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on auto-insurance reform. Armey testified on behalf of legislation popularly known as “auto choice,” which, as he told his Senate counterparts, could put billions of dollars “back into the pockets of real people—without costing the government a single penny.”

It’s an idea that other congressional Republicans may yet take solace in. Auto choice is perhaps the only new and substantive proposal that they will pass this year, but it is a beauty. The underlying issue—the rising cost of auto insurance—is one that affects every American who drives. This legislation would benefit the urban poor, potentially split the Democrats, and deny funds to a fiercely liberal interest group, the trial lawyers.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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ON July 17, 1997—the day after the news broke of House Republicans’ failed coup against Speaker Newt Gingrich—Majority Leader Dick Armey took refuge in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on auto-insurance reform. Armey testified on behalf of legislation popularly known as “auto choice,” which, as he told his Senate counterparts, could put billions of dollars “back into the pockets of real people—without costing the government a single penny.”

It’s an idea that other congressional Republicans may yet take solace in. Auto choice is perhaps the only new and substantive proposal that they will pass this year, but it is a beauty. The underlying issue—the rising cost of auto insurance—is one that affects every American who drives. This legislation would benefit the urban poor, potentially split the Democrats, and deny funds to a fiercely liberal interest group, the trial lawyers.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.