Michael Barone over at Real Clear Politics has an informative article today about the desperation coming out of the White House... and the matter of fact manner in which the White House is threatening American business and people to keep their mouths shut if they disagree with the White House.

Gangster Government Stifles Criticism of Obamacare

"There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases."

That sounds like a stern headmistress dressing down some sophomores who have been misbehaving. But it's actually from a letter sent Thursday from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans -- the chief lobbyist for private health insurance companies....

... Sebelius has "zero tolerance" for that kind of thing.... And there's a threat. "We will also keep track of insurers with a record of unjustified rate increases: those plans may be excluded from health insurance Exchanges in 2014."...

....The threat to use government regulation to destroy or harm someone's business because they disagree with government officials is thuggery.... They want to stamp out negative speech about Obamacare. "Zero tolerance" means they are ready to use the powers of government to threaten economic harm on those who dissent.

The closing paragraph of Sebelius's letter to AHIP's Karen Ignagni gives the game away. "We worked hard to change the system to help consumers." This is a reminder that the administration alternatively collaborated with and criticized Ignagni's organization. We roughed you up a little, but we eventually made a deal.

The secretary goes on: "It is my hope we can work together to stop misinformation and misleading marketing from the start." In other words, shut your members up and play team ball -- or my guys with the baseball bats and Tommy guns are going to get busy. As Cowen puts it, "worse than I had been expecting."

The old "Huckster" as the libs loved to call Mike Huckabee, received a lot of grief over his reference to Arkansas being a lot like a "banana republic"... but he may have been more prophetic about this later day in America itself.

xtnyoda, shalomed