'Progressive' Auto Insurance Ad Rips 'Rate Suckers'—So How About Health Insurance?

In the health-care insurance debate, one of the mantras of the left is to condemn those evil, greedy insurance companies that would charge higher rates to people with "pre-existing conditions."

But in a commercial aired on last night's Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, there was "Progressive Insurance," whose chairman Peter Lewis is a huge donor to liberal causes including Moveon.org, condemning as "rate suckers" people with bad driving records who drive up good drivers' rates!  View the video after the jump.

What is a bad driving record other than a pre-existing condition? Why should people with a good health history be subjected to higher rates to subsidize those with poor ones, any more than people with good driving records should subsidize those with poor ones?

The commercial opens with a car driving down a street.  A number of people jump onto the hood, and their lips stick to the windshield.

BOY RIDING IN CAR WITH FATHER: Aaah! Aaaaah! There's a guy on the window! Do something, dad! Aaaah! Aaaah!

The father stops the car, and a woman appears at the father's window.

FATHER: What is happening?

WOMAN FROM PROGRESSIVE: They're rate suckers. Their bad driving makes car insurance more expensive for the rest of us. Good thing there's Snapshot from Progressive. Snap it in and get a discount based on your good driving.

VOICEOVER: Stop paying for rate suckers. Try Snapshot free at Progressive.com.